Even Through the Chaos
by SapphireMarbles
Summary: When Jiang Wei entered the Shu forces, little did he know how a certain dark haired beauty would cause an impact on him. As both Jiang Wei and Guan Yinping faced duty, loyalty and responsibilities they developed strong, deep feelings for each other. Would their love last through the time of Chaos? Pairing: Guan Yinping x Jiang Wei. Rating is between T and M.
1. Preface

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dynasty Warriors. Koei Tecmo owns Dynasty Warriors.

 **A/N:** Some ages and years are historically inaccurate.

 **Even Through the Chaos**

 **Preface**

The sound of the cup crashing onto the courtyard's concrete was the only sound audible besides Guan Yinping's heavy breathing. Her eyes widen. The water spilled all over the concrete, onto her shoes and splashed to the end of her garment. Her right hand immediately covered her mouth as her body trembled.

Mixed emotions endlessly stormed her mind since she discovered the news. _Why? Why would you do this?_

"You may be dismissed," Bao Sanniang, who was standing next to Yinping, said sternly to the messenger. The messenger obeyed and was frighten of Sanniang's terrifying glare. Sanniang sighed as she stared at the parchment on the table. "He's risking his life by doing this and hurting you!"

Yinping's body almost fell to the ground, by the shocking news, until Sanniang successfully got a hold of her and helped her up.

"Yinping, don't stress out like this. It's not good for your condition," Sanniang warned.

Yinping removed her hand from her mouth to reveal her quivering lips. Tears started streaming her delicate face from her red eyes.

"Sanniang, w-what if… Brother Xing and Suo will be called by him? T-then they will…he will be…" She wept, but was too afraid to say the possible outcome. Yinping shook her head back and forth. "No, no, no. This can't be."

"Yin, stay calm. Remember stressing out will create an impact on your condition. I have the same feelings as you do about this." Sanninag tried her best to calm her sister in-law. "Sit here as I get the broom and a cloth to clean this mess." Sanniang guided Yinping to the chair behind them and then disappeared into the house.

Guan Yinping gazed out onto the clear sky as her mind countlessly worried. _Even though we surrendered to Wei, he's still plotting stuff like this. No matter what, he's blinded by passion, loyalty, and…._

"His hot-bloodiness," Yinping whispered harshly as she glanced at the parchment on the table.

The dark haired lady then came to a conclusion. _If I reach the camp on time then maybe I'll convince him to stop this._ She placed a hand on her stomach. _To stop him for us._

Yinping stood up from her chair, grabbed the parchment and dashed straight to her room to pack. She never packed so quickly in her life and was thankful for how Bao Sanniang could sometimes be a little slow.

Once Yinping entered the carriage with two servants accompanying her, she looked back on the house. "Sorry, Sanniang."

 _Husband, I'm coming for you, my brothers, Sanniang._

She placed her hand on her stomach again.

 _For our family._

"Lady Yinping, we're ready to head off," one of the servants announced.

* * *

"What?! That sneaky girl! She would do this!" Bao Sanniang exclaimed.

She searched the courtyard, Yinping's room, and every room in the house until she realized the parchment ,from the messenger, was gone. If she wasn't so stubborn of not asking one of the servants where the broom was instead of finding it herself then she would catch Yinping on time.

Sanniang crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Jiang Wei, this is all your fault."

* * *

 _Four Years Ago_

It was the day Jiang Wei finally entered the Shu palace since he defected to the Shu forces from Wei. Although, he marched into the palace with his new comrades he wasn't well adjusted as a member of this kingdom. However, little did he know a certain dark haired beauty, who would greet him, led to have an impact on him.


	2. New Territory New Life

**A/N:** This chapter follows the end of the previous chapter which flash backs to four years before the preface.

 **Chapter 2: New Territory. New Life.**

As soldiers filed into the entrance of the palace the light brown pair of eyes, belonging to a young lady, eagerly scanned the room in search for two certain individuals. The young lady was nervous and a bit scared. The night before she had a nightmare.

The nightmare brought back her experience of heartbreak and pain by ending off of her witnessing the lifeless bodies of two of the important people in her life.

Once those light brown eyes finally spotted one of the figures she was searching for she rushed to embrace him through the crowd of soldiers. Her long, onyx hair was fluttering behind her as she ran to him.

At the moment, she didn't care how unmannerly she looked. She didn't care if she looked rude for not greeting her superiors first. She only wanted to make sure the two individuals were home from the previous battle. She wanted to know, for sure, if they were really here.

"Ah, Yinping." Guan Xing winced at the strength his little sister possessed in her tight hug.

Yinping quietly whispered. "You're home."

From afar, Jiang Wei caught a glimpse of the siblings' reunion, but then diverted his attention to a different direction for he thought how it would be inappropriate for him witnessing a couple in a moment like this.

Jiang Wei may have mistaken the relationship between the two, but he was not mistaken of the attractiveness of the dark haired lady.

* * *

Jiang Wei observed his surroundings when taking each step into the Shu palace. He would describe the palace as extravagant with the many elegant details of the decorations, the luxurious furnitures and of the paintings and calligraphies framed on the walls. As a former Wei general, the Shu palace, in a way, reminded him of the Wei palace for the same glamorous presence it possessed. Thinking about this led to his feelings of homesickness, with knowing he would never reside in Wei again, and guilt for leaving his own mother back in his natal town.

Zhuge Liang discovered great talents in Jiang Wei and believed in the potential of this young man. Jiang Wei pledged loyalty to Shu by realizing they shared the same reason to fight, after being outsmarted in battle and taken hostage, along with admiring the Sleeping Dragon's intelligence.

Despite all of this, Jiang Wei was considered a traitor to Wei. There were even rumors circulating in Wei of him secretly conspiring with Shu since the day he became a soldier and pointing out a negative flaw in his character.

It was four days since he joined the Shu forces and two days residing in the palace. Although, it was still too early to form meaningful bonds among the Shu forces, Jiang Wei felt the slightly awkward presence around them excluding Zhuge Liang, Huang Yueying, Zhao Yun, and Ma Dai. He believed it was due to him originally being a general under Wei.

He knew he need to adjust when entering into a new kingdom, surrounding and situation. Jiang Wei acknowledged the fact that he need to build a new life in this new territory.

"Master Jiang Wei, Lord Zhuge Liang has requested to meet you." A voice broke his train of thought. The young strategist turned around to only discover it was none other than the cheery face of Ma Dai.

"Oh. Thank you, Master Ma Dai. I'll head there right now." Jiang Wei answered as he headed to a direction of a corridor until he paused by recognizing he still wasn't familiar with the Shu palace. Jiang Wei then scratched his head.

Ma Dai chuckled at the young strategist's confused state. "I'll lead you to the Chancellor's study room. After your meeting is over, how about I give you a tour of the palace?"

Jiang Wei smiled, to Ma Dai, in embarrassment. "Thank you. That will help a lot."

* * *

"Here, Red Hare," Yinping held a red apple to Red Hare's mouth. The horse happily accepted it.

"I swear. You and your brothers spoil this horse!" Bao Sanniang stated while stroking the hair of a white horse. "But then again, I do spoil my cat."

"Sanniang, he was Father's horse and he worked hard all these years. There's nothing wrong with showing him affections."

All Sanniang could do was giggle at the younger lady's response. Yinping was right after all.

"Yin, I heard there are news of a general from Wei who joined our kingdom," the older lady mentioned by changing the subject.

"Hhmm?"

"There's word that Lord Zhuge Liang highly praised him and being an absolute genius." Sanniang started to giggle again. "The maids said he's handsome and have a well-built body."

Yinping was about to respond to Sanniang of how silly the last sentence sounded until suddenly they heard voices coming toward the horse stalls. They were alarmed and listened carefully.

"That's very honorable for Lord Zhuge Liang to have you as his assistant and being Lord Liu Shan's personal adviser while you're studying under him."

"I'm grateful for these opportunities and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead. Hopefully, I will improve in areas I lack."

"Ha ha…I forgot to say this to you before, but welcome to Shu!"

Jiang Wei laughed in appreciation for the cheery and friendly expression of Ma Dai.

"Oh and these are the horse stalls," Ma Dai stated as the tour guide.

Both men walked in to find the two ladies. In order to pretend they didn't hear a word from the men's conversation, the ladies quickly faced the opposite wall across the entrance.

"Lady Yinping. Lady Sanniang," Ma Dai greeted.

Once both ladies turned their heads to Ma Dai, Jiang Wei was awed by seeing the dark haired lady's angelic face closer compared to the far distant from the previous day.

* * *

 **A/N:** That's the second chapter. What do you guys think? : )

Can you guess by what the "negative flaw" of Jiang Wei's character is, from the rumors?

Also "Ma Dai" sounds like "Madai" which is one of the words to say mother in the Cambodian/Khmer language. Ha.


	3. Rumors are rumors

**Chapter 3: Rumors are rumors.**

At that instant, everything that surrounded Jiang Wei was a blur except the dark haired lady. His eyes only desired to focus his sight on her. She was an angelic as well as a youthful flower. Her lengthy, onyx hair flattered her fair skin. He noticed the unique light brown eyes of hers. Those light brown eyes were full of innocence, but he sensed they once engulfed into a pit of sadness.

"He is our new comrade. Master Jiang Wei. Boyue," Ma Dai introduced his new friend to the two ladies.

Both ladies bowed in respect.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Jiang Wei. I am Bao Sanniang." Sanniang smirked as she peeked a glance at Yinping.

"This is my sister Yinping." She pointed.

 _What a beautiful name. It matches her face_. Jiang Wei thought to himself.

Yinping started to walk toward Jiang Wei to greet him since she was the farthest away from the male generals.

"I hope you are enjoying-"

Yinping tripped over one of the buckets filled with water for the horses which resulted of her body to be on top of Jiang Wei with their face almost touching. All eyes, in the room, were widen in reaction to this incident. Luckily, Yinping's hands landed on the ground on time, beside Jiang Wei's head, before their lips could meet.

Yinping's face transformed into a rosy color in embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry," she cried out as she rapidly jumped off from him. Yinping felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

Jiang Wei gathered himself on his feet and dusted out some of the dirt off from his trousers. A noticeable wet spot was on his crotch area that extended to his left thigh of his trousers.

"I am so sorry," Yinping apologized again. Her face was now a scarlet shade. Oh, how she wished she would just vanish into thin air.

"Lady Yinping, it is only water. It's not a big deal," Jiang Wei claimed as he grinned sheepishly. "I'll just have to change pants. No harm done."

* * *

"…And then after he said that she kept saying 'sorry, sorry, sorry' and literally ran, no, she _glided,_ out of the horse stalls as if a tiger was about to pounce on to her," Sanniang told Yinping's dreadful story to a group of male generals in one of the palace's study rooms.

The group consisted of Guan Xing, Guan Suo, and Zhang Bao. All three boys howled in laughter. Zhang Bao even banged the table with his fist as he snorted.

"SANNIANG!" Yinping's voice hollered in yet again of embarrassment.

"Little Sister, you do look cute when embarrassed," Guan Suo added cheekily.

The youngest Guan sibling pouted and crossed her arms as a reply.

"You see! Isn't she cute?" Suo continued to tease her.

"Brother Suo!" Yinping wined.

"How does cute little Yinping fight? She fights with the elements of water!" Zhang Bao followed the teasing bandwagon.

"Welcome to Shu. Guan Yinping the Goddess of Water will drown you!" Sanniang preceded.

The teasing sustained for several minutes until all of four of the older ones were full from laughter.

"Brother, do you think you will be partnered with Jiang Wei?" Guan Suo asked his older brother.

At this point, all eyes were planted on to Guan Xing. They were certainly curious of his answer.

"Well, since I'm also part of the strategy and politics officials of Shu, it may be possible," Guan Xing replied calmly.

Guan Xing was talented in martials arts as well as he excelled in his studies. Out of all his siblings, he was the most studious and took seriousness in education. As a child, he had a reputation of having the top grades of all his classes. Zhuge Liang was always fond of Guan Xing since the day he met Xing as a little boy. The Chancellor highly praised and encouraged Guan Xing to study under him. Yinping believed Xing was Zhuge Liang's favorite out of all the Guan children.

"Do you think Lord Kongming would replace you with Jiang Wei?" Zhang Bao questioned.

Before Xing could uttered a word, Yinping spoke out. "No one is going to replace you, Brother Xing. No matter how intelligent they are."

Everybody in the room chuckled.

"I know this is too soon, but there is something that gives me a bad vibe of this guy," Zhang Bao stated.

"It's because he was originally from Wei," Sanniang joined in the conversation.

"It is more than just that. During our previous battle against Wei, he just stood out to me than the rest of the officers I have faced or seen before," Zhang Bao continued. "I don't know how to explain this. Although, recently I have heard rumors."

The other four listened intently. They all leaned in toward the round, wooded table to hear what Zhang Bao has yet to finish saying.

"The rumors said that he-"

The door to the study room swung opened. Jiang Wei appeared at the door with a parchment in his hand and Ma Dai closely behind him.

Jiang Wei looked across the room. There were many stacks of parchments, scrolls, ink bottles, shelves full of books, and a round table supplied with five chairs which five generals sat on each one. Regardless Jiang Wei's eyes gazed into the light brown eyes of hers. Yinping quickly turned her head, away from his gaze, in embarrassment of remembering their first encounter.

His eyes led to Guan Xing who was sitting next to her. He then bowed to the group.

"Master Jiang Wei, is there something I may help you with?" Guan Xing broke the silence while he rose from his seat.

"The Chancellor have informed me the study sources I need are in here. You and I are to report back to him with the materials."

Jiang Wei handed the parchment to Guan Xing.

"I know where these are," Guan Xing said after he read the list. He then collected several scrolls and headed to the door.

When Jiang Wei was near the door he paused for split second, debating if he should turn around to see the dark haired lady even if it was only the sight of the back of her head with her full lengthy hair. Jiang Wei decided it was best not to since the _other general_ was here and accompanying him to the Chancellor.

Yinping finally spun her head to only capture the view of the former Wei general's back. Guilt washed over her.

* * *

The sound of crickets echoed to Bao Sanniang's room since her room was next to one of the palace's gardens. The bright day transitioned into a peaceful night.

Yinping was currently braiding Sanniang's brown hair. Both ladies were sitting on Sanniang's bed while Sanniang's brown-orange colored cat purred against her legs.

"Sanniang," Yinping blurted out when she finished braiding.

"Yes, Yin?"

"You told the boys what happened today, but you did not tell them how I landed on…."

Sanniang shifted her body to face her sister in-law.

"If I told them that part, you know your brothers would freak out especially Xing."

Yinping knew Sanniang was right. Ever since the Battle of Fan Castle, Xing and Suo became over protected toward Yinping and promised to wipe out anything they considered threatening that would harm her. Xing, who was now the head of his family, determined he needed to step up as the oldest brother and carry on to nurture his siblings just how Ping did.

"Then thank you," Yinping said.

After a few seconds Yinping pouted. "You smirked at me before I tripped!"

"Do you really think that I would purposely plan it so you can lay flat on his chest?"

Yinping hesitated. Sanniang continued to nag at her. "I smirked at you BECAUSE if you remember we were talking about him."

Yinping looked up at her. _Oh, that was true._

"Besides, were you able to feel those well define muscles under his clothes?" Sanniang cooed.

Yinping's face blushed. Sanniang loved teasing her sister in-law.

"You should have stayed on top of him a little longer instead of quickly jumping off from him. You could have slid your hand on to his abdomen and-"

"Stop!" Yinping covered her ears.

Sanniang bursted into laughter. Yinping was so cute and innocent.

"From how Bao sounded, it doesn't seem the rumors were good toward Jiang Wei," Yinping mentioned to change the subject. It was also due to how curious she was of what the rumors were since Bao never got to finish what he had to say.

"Rumors are rumors. They are false until proven true," Sanniang responded.

The image of the former Wei's general back flashed to Yinping's mind.

The dark haired lady got off from the bed and walked toward the door.

"Yin, where are you going?"

Yinping's light brown eyes stared into Sanniang's.

"To formally apologize to him."

* * *

Yinping wondered around the palace in search of Jiang Wei. She explored the library and almost every study room to find him. _Where would he be?_ Yinping additionally thought to seek Zhuge Liang to ask about Jiang Wei, but she knew the Chancellor had a list of busy tasks to handle.

"My lady, are you looking for something?" a maid spoke in concern. The maid thought the dark haired lady looked completely lost for a person who live in the palace.

Yinping smiled. "I am looking for Master Jiang Wei. Do you know where he is?"

"He is in the throne room with the Chancellor, Lord Liu Shan and your brother, my lady."

"Thank you."

Yinping hurriedly made her way to the direction of the throne room.

From the end of the corridor, a figure witnessed the conversation between the two females and was cryptic to the reason behind the dark haired lady wanting to see Jiang Wei.

He decided to quietly follow her. He already harbored unsure feelings of Jiang Wei's joining to Shu and was now slightly irritated.

 _Yinping, why are you looking for him?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Historically, Guan Xing was well-liked by Zhuge Liang.

Boyue is Jiang Wei's style name and Kongming is Zhuge Liang's style name.

Reviews are inspirational and appreciated. :)

I am also opened to constructive criticism.


	4. Moonlight

**Chapter 4: Moonlight**

Yinping strode her way to the entry of the throne room. She cautiously halted her pace and observed the left and right side of her. She sensed someone following her, but why did the person want to be hidden from her? As a lady who came from a family with a background of military and martial arts, she knew when she must be alert and attentive to her surroundings.

She gingerly listened for any sounds from the intruder. She walked toward a wall, next to the throne room, with a framed painting of the country side. She pretended to examine the framed painting. The footsteps of the intruder became prominent to her hears. Each footstep became closer to her and then finally ceased to a stop. The intruder was right behind her. She could hear the intruder's breathing. Her right hand formed into a tight fist.

She twirled around with her fist harshly flying into the intruder's face without identifying who it was first. The intruder stumbled backward, from the impact of Yinping's punch, and landed on his bottom.

"OW!" the intruder yelped as one of his hand rubbed his injured face and the other on his bum.

"Bao!" Yinping said when she was hastily by his side.

"You should seriously know the difference between friends and enemies!" Zhang Bao specified while he winced.

* * *

Liu Shan sat in his throne with the royal emerald colored robe he was dressed in. Beside him were Zhuge Liang, to his left, and Zhang Xingcai, to his right. Guan Xing and Jiang Wei stood a crossed from the three.

"Two strangers shall be partners now. Both men with great minds and skilled in combat contributes to Shu's future," Zhuge Liang proposed as he fanned himself with his feathered fan.

Both young men nodded in unison to the Chancellor's statement.

"Master Guan Xing, I look forward to working with you," Jiang Wei commented.

All Guan Xing did was nod and grinned in reply to Jiang Wei's word. Now, he had to split some of his work and duty with Jiang Wei. When entering the throne room, it was revealed to Xing that Jiang Wei was assigned as Liu Shan's personal advisor, which was also the job Xing occupied, and the Chancellor's assistant. Even though Xing was never offered to be the Chancellor's personal assistant he was not at all jealous of Jiang Wei instead he found it to be a positive thing to have someone to share part of the workload with. The only thing, so far, from what Xing was concerned was how the awkward tension, between the two of them, would fade away.

"There is no need to call me 'Master'. After all, you are two years my senior," Xing noted.

Jiang Wei grinned and nodded back. Suddenly the sound of a loud thud from something heavy dropping onto the ground caused all heads to turn to the entry of the throne room.

Liu Shan immediately hopped off his throne with Xingcai's hand stopping him.

"My lord, stay behind I shall see what the disturbance is," Xingcai informed.

Everybody headed to the entry with Xingcai in the lead. She was ready to strike when necessary. Voices were clearly, closely heard next to the throne room.

"OW!"

"Bao!"

"You should seriously know the difference between friends and enemies!"

At the door of the throne room, the group only discovered an injured Zhang Bao on the ground and a worrisome Yinping next to him.

"Brother," Xingcai's firm voice interrupted the young generals.

Yinping assisted Zhang Bao up and greeted them. "Chancellor, Liu-"

"It is Lord or Emperor Liu Shan," Xingcai corrected her sternly.

Yinping disliked how stern and cold Xingcai could be. Xingcai and Bao were siblings with complete polar opposite personalities. She remembered Xingcai was never like that when they were children. Battle and war could change people.

"We all grew up together so it's natural for her to call him by his name without any titles attached," Xing defended his little sister.

Xingcai's punitive glare did not falter.

"You have freakish strength for a girl with a tiny body!" Bao hollered out by touching his injured cheek. He flinched. "Man, it's going to hurt really bad tomorrow morning."

"If you haven't sneaked up on me like that than this wouldn't happened," Yinping back talked.

"I was _innocently_ walking by," he lied. "Just be lucky that I am being lenient to you."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

Zhuge Liang stepped in. "This is a quarrel between young adults in which they should act like the adults they are. I will part my way. Good night," the Chancellor excused himself with an unamused face. He believed in the second generation of Shu, but at times there were some who needed to grow up and still acquired a lot to learn.

"Yes as adults, Lady Yinping, YOU should apologize to your superior," Zhang Bao said in a chaff tone.

"Bao." Xing's expression was serious with a bit of annoyance.

"Fine, Yinping. I am sorry. Next time I'll let you knock me out cold."

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes Bao had too much to say. "Sorry, Bao."

"Based on this situation, Lady Yinping was only acting on her instincts." The voice belonged to the man she was searching for. Her light brown eyes settled onto Jiang Wei's face. He was calm and quiet throughout the whole conversation. Yinping was surprised for him to side with her due to the incident that happened earlier which she blamed herself for.

"Why were the two of you here at this time of the night?" Xing raised an eye brow partially at Bao.

"I…" Yinping started her sentence until her light brown eyes travelled back to Jiang Wei's face. She did not want to flee away from him this time.

"Well, both of you should next time consider the respect of not interrupting others," Xingcai scolded.

"Xingcai, it's okay," Liu Shan finally spoke. "Please let's leave this as it is. It is getting late."

Zhang Bao muttered under his breath. "Sis, it wouldn't hurt if you weren't always strict."

* * *

After the dispute between Guan Yinping and Zhang Bao, the young emperor and generals parted ways to their chambers. Yinping desired to pursue Jiang Wei, but before she was able to Xing wanted to walk her to her room to discuss matters with her.

"So, that means you and him are really partners?" Yinping asked her older brother as they reached the door to her room. Xing thoroughly explained to her the new arrangements the Chancellor proposed.

"Yes. It is a good thing. With his talents he is helping build Shu's future. Plus…" Xing chuckled. "I get to share the burden with somebody."

"Hopefully, Jiang Wei will get along with everybody. Even though Bao haven't revealed the rumors, it seems they are quite negative."

Zhang Bao's name was what led to the real matter Xing wanted to discuss between the two of them.

Xing turned and looked dearly at his little sister. "Yinping."

"Yes?" she innocently answered.

"There aren't any men bothering you, right?" Xing questioned straightforwardly in concern. Yinping was at the ripe age of twenty years old. She was four years younger than Xing and three years younger than Suo. She had develop into a grown woman with peerless beauty. Xing recognized there were those who expressed interest in her. He wanted to protect her as along as he lived, albeit he acknowledged the fact that she was no longer a little girl and someday she would be married off, but she would always be his little sister.

"You saw what I did to Bao. I can do that to any pest who messes with me!" Yinping proudly confirmed.

Xing chuckled again. Yinping did conceal enormous strength in her delicate frame. He pictured how comical it would be for her to crush any bastard by simply hugging them. Xing thought Bao was fortunate that Yinping's punch did not smash his skull with his blood and teeth landing onto the ground.

"Is there anyone you like?"

The question caught her off guard and in confusion.

"Uh, no. Brother, was there something weird in the tea you drank today?"

"Err…no… It's just that Suo and I won't always be here and I want you to be well off with someone who can protect you," Xing confirmed.

His little sister clutched both of his hands into her small ones. Her light brown orbs stared into her brother's.

"Don't worry. I can protect and take care of myself. Remember I am the daughter of the God of War," Yinping indicated with pride.

She let go of his hands.

Xing grinned. Their father would be proud of the woman Yinping had become.

"It is late. Get some rest. We have a whole day ahead for us," Xing informed.

Yinping opened the door to enter her room. "Good night, Brother."

"Good night." He ambled off into the corridor to his room.

The walk to his room Xing couldn't cease to think about his sworn brother, Zhang Bao. He very well knew Bao saw Yinping as a woman instead of a childhood friend. Bao didn't need to admit his feelings to Xing about this. Xing merely identified it by the minor changes whenever his little sister was around Bao. Bao became cautious and guarded around Yinping in order to hide his feelings through methods of teasing her, arguing with her or simply by making her laugh. Yinping and the rest of the generals were oblivious to Bao's actions and true feelings. Although, Bao could be quick tempered at times, just like how his father was, he was down to earth. Xing, as a brother protecting his sister, was careful when observing Bao. Despite Bao being Xing's sworn brother, he needed to prove himself to Xing to be good enough for the little sister of the Guan family.

* * *

Yinping was dressed in her nightgown with her braids undone. She glanced at her window. The night was dark with a full moon and numerous stars shining the sky. She still desired to formally apologize to Jiang Wei and blamed Bao for interfering with her progress.

"Bao!" She whispered annoyingly. She thought if Bao didn't sneak up at her then she would been able to accomplish her mission. Guilt was still overshadowing her. She was anxious to end this unpleasant feeling.

She, then, remembered before the generals parted their way Jiang Wei mentioned he left a scroll in the palace's library. _Maybe he will see be there?_

Yinping decided to search, once more, in the library for him before heading off to bed.

She arrived at the door of the library. Her heart was pumping hard with her palms becoming sweaty as she touched the door knob. Guilt was one of the unfriendly feelings one could acquire.

Before she could turned the door knob, it turned by itself. _Someone is already in there and exiting out._ Her hand instantly snatched away from the door knob to her chest.

The door opened. Jiang Wei was present holding a scroll with a tired expression on his face.

"Master Jiang Wei," Yinping mumbled.

Jiang Wei's eyes focused onto the dark haired lady. He wasn't expecting to see anybody during this time of the night especially her.

"I-I want to talk," she stumbled on her words, "I want to apologize f-for my actions toward you."

Now he was certainly surprised of her search for him and the reason.

"Lady Yinping, what happened earlier today did no harm. Believe me."

"No." Her cheeks were heated. "Let me formally apologize."

Her light brown orbs consumed a pleasing look. What could Jiang Wei do to a woman who was acting like this?

"Master Jiang Wei, I am sorry for my actions." Her voice sounded soft to his ears.

An idea was devised in his head and alleged this would make her feel better. "How about we re-introduce ourselves?" He bowed. "Hello, my lady. I am Jiang Wei."

She smiled her pearl white teeth to him. The window next to them reflected the moonlight on to her. Jiang Wei could not deny how beautiful she was. She was a Dark Haired Beauty.

She felt less anxious with her guilt lessened. She bowed back. "Hello, Master Jiang Wei. I am Guan Yinping. It's nice to meet you." She realized she was finally not fleeing away from him this time.

 _Guan Yinping_? The names of the Guan siblings flew into his mind. _Guan Suo, Guan Xing, Guan Ping. All of them are children of Guan Yu. So that means she is their sister. Lady Bao is her sister in-law._ Jiang Wei felt foolish, no he felt stupid, for assuming Guan Yinping was a lover or girlfriend of Guan Xing. _That explains why she hugged him like that yesterday. A sister would be worried for her brothers when in war._

He was somewhat relieved.

"Look it's a full moon tonight." Her soft voice brought back his attention. "Does the moon look different in Wei?"

Without peeking at the large window he answered her with his eyes meeting her unique light brown orbs.

"Yes, the moon shines brighter here."


	5. Secrets

**Chapter 5: Secrets**

 _ **Six Months Later**_

"Boyue, you have to stop looking at her like that. People will notice."

Jiang Wei was _supposingly_ studying the assignments the Chancellor assigned, but Ma Dai, who was sitting across from him, knew too well how the young strategist could be easily distracted when _she_ was around. Both of the generals were sitting at a round, wooded table in one of the palace's study rooms.

The window of the room exposed Yinping and Sanniang helping Zhuge Shi, the eight year old daughter of Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueying, gather peaches from the peach trees in one of the palace's gardens under the bright sun.

Jiang Wei thought her long, dark hair looked elegant despite how the wind blew it messily.

"Plus, they might think the wrong thing," Ma Dai continued on with a devilish grin. "They will probably think you're a pervert."

This caused Jiang Wei to whip his head to the direction of Ma Dai. "You know it's not at all like that." The young strategist became flustered.

All Ma Dai did was chuckle. He enjoyed joking about Jiang Wei's crush of a certain dark haired lady despite his warnings to him if someone were to find out. He knew Jiang Wei was attracted to Yinping since the moment they entered the study room where her, her siblings, and Bao attended. The way Jiang Wei's eyes looked at her was what led Ma Dai to find out. You wouldn't look at anyone else the same way like that. Throughout the past six months Jiang Wei harbored a crush toward Yinping which one day Ma Dai confronted him by questioning the reason his friend wasn't interested by one of the guest dancers who arrived for a banquet to the palace. The dancer's looks were never close to the word ugly. She flirted with Jiang Wei and when he did not offer the same treatment she started to become touchy toward him. Instead, sadly for the dancer, he politely stated he did not consume the same interest in her and as a gentleman he could not have the heart to perform those actions to a lovely woman like her.

"But I do need to be more cautious," Jiang Wei admitted. "It wouldn't be appropriate if I-"

"Why do you need to be cautious, Master Jiang Wei?"

The youthful voice belonging to a boy of 12 years old asked. Both men shifted their bodies behind them to discover it was Zhuge Zhan, the older brother of Zhuge Shi and the son of Zhuge Liang. His face had the appearance of his father's with a boyish charm. Jiang Wei and many others believed Zhan would be the next great talent of Shu since he was always studious. Jiang Wei also believed there would be many high expectations and pressure that would be lay out for this boy due to being the son of his father.

"Zhuge Zhan, how long were you here?" Ma Dai asked the boy. Both men wondered how they did not notice the footsteps of a boy entering the room.

"When you were all oblivious," Zhuge Zhan said a matter of factually. "So Master Jiang Wei, why do you have to be more cautious though?"

"Well I…" Jiang Wei started to speak until his eyes trailed off to the window.

"Oh, I see you're looking over there," Zhan pointed at the window. "You want their peaches, right? Let me go ask them." Zhan walked toward the window and opened it.

"Shi, Lady Sanniang, Lady Yinping! Master Jiang Wei wants your peaches," Zhan yelled out from a cross the window.

"Zhuge Zhan," Jiang Wei spoke as he laid his hands on top of Zhan's shoulders in order to pull him away from the window and of Jiang Wei's own embarrassment.

"He said he needs to be cautious. I think he has been staring at all of you for a long time. It seems like he's hungry for your peaches."

Jiang Wei's grip strengthen as he pulled the boy toward him. Despite this, Zhan was persistent.

"His grip is getting hard so that means he is really hungry now. Lady Yinping, I think he wants those large peaches of yours. He probably have been eyeing them for a while."

Jiang Wei's face was now slightly crimson. "Zhan, that's enough."

"Master Jiang Wei, I know you want Lady Yinping's large peaches. Don't be shy. Lady Yinping-" The young strategist covered the boy's mouth to halt the shouting of the embarrassing moment while Ma Dai shut the window. Who knew how innocent words could sound the complete opposite.

Zhan pulled Jiang Wei's hand away from his mouth. "Master Jiang Wei, I was only trying to help. There is no need to be shy about it."

The young strategist sighed. "Okay, Zhan." He then scratched his head. _Just how am I going to explain this to her?_

* * *

Later that day a meeting was held in one of the meeting rooms to discuss the strategy for the upcoming battle against Wei. Liu Shan was at the head of the symposium table with Zhuge Liang and Yueying each beside him. Several generals filled in the seats of the table including Guan Xing, Guan Suo, Zhang Bao, Jiang Wei, and Ma Dai.

Zhuge Liang pointed at the map of the battlefield which was placed on the table. "I need you all to fulfill your roles in order to bring out our plan. We have three days until we march onto Chencang."

"With Lady Yueying's battle equipments we may be at an advantage," Jiang Wei declared.

Yueying smiled at his sentenced. "Our tools may do heavy damages, but a well constructive strategy is what leads to victory. Am I right, my husband?"

"Yes," Zhuge Liang replied. "Jiang Wei will take second in command, in this battle, followed by Guan Xing. I believe both of your talents should be taken in to use."

Both Jiang Wei and Guan Xing glanced at each other at the surprise of the positions the Chancellor assigned to them.

"Chancellor, it is already dark out. Let's postpone this meeting and discuss this tomorrow with new fresh ideas," Liu Shan softly interrupted.

Once the meeting was dismissed and what was thought the meeting room and hallway were empty, Guan Suo tapped the back of his older brother.

"Brother, let's have a match of Xiangqi (Chinese chess) tonight with wine," Suo offered Xing when they were in the hallway near the door of the meeting room. "To have some fun before the battle. Bao, you are more than welcome to tag along."

Xing grinned. "Get the wine and game ready. First, I want to discuss with Jiang Wei about our position commanding the battle."

"Xing, don't you think you deserve to be second in command instead of being under _him?"_ Bao condemned. "After all, you have studied under Lord Kongming for a long time way before _he_ was here and you are supposed to be partners."

"Bao, the Chancellor has his reason. Jiang Wei is an intelligent man with experience in combat and studies." Xing defended. The Shu soldiers have adjusted to a new general in their ranks and became corporate or friends with Jiang Wei although Xing was aware of Bao's dislike toward Jiang Wei. However, Xing did not know the true reason behind it.

"You have more experience than him. I don't think Jiang Wei-"

"Yes?"

All three men turned around to discover Jiang Wei and Ma Dai at the door of the meeting room. Luckily, for Bao, Jiang Wei and Ma Dai did not hear an ounce of the conversation.

"I heard my name," Jiang Wei said.

"Master Jiang Wei. Master Ma Dai. We didn't know you were still in the room," Xing said.

"We were admiring the moon from the window and thought how peaceful the night look before we will march into Chencang," Ma Dai responded.

Bao rolled his eyes at this.

"I actually was seeking to find you, Master Jiang Wei, to discuss our position for Chencang," Xing mentioned.

"Brother, save that for tomorrow. Right now let's relax and start our match of Xiangqi," Suo complained. "Master Jiang Wei and Master Ma Dai, it would be more fun if you can join us."

The four men did not notice the scowl Zhang Bao wore when hearing Jiang Wei would join them.

* * *

The calm wind and peaceful night was the perfect atmosphere to hold an intense match of chess in one of the palace's courtyards. Two opponents glared at the chess board with deep concentration to win the battle.

"Check mate!" Ma Dai hollered.

"Master Ma Dai, I didn't know you were really good in Xiangqi," Suo commented with the expression of defeat.

Ma Dai lightly chuckled. "Now I have to face tonight's champion Guan Xing." He then raised his glass to bring it to his lip, but to only realize not a drop of wine was left.

"It looks like we ran out of wine," Xing noted.

"I will get us more wine." Bao volunteered as he walked off. He couldn't stand being in the same room with Jiang Wei.

"We are going to start the match without you!" Xing shouted at his sworn brother.

"Whatever," Bao shouted back.

Before the final round of chess could start it was interrupted by Zhuge Zhan appearing in front of the group of men. The boy bowed and cleared his throat. "Master Jiang Wei, my father have requested you to clean up the study room you used today and he said you must do it immediately."

Jiang Wei thought that he had gathered all of his materials and cleaned the area he used, like he always did, but he knew it was best to not question the Chancellor if Jiang Wei knew he was at fault himself.

When walking to the direction to the study room, Zhuge Zhan turned to the opposite direction.

"Zhan, the study room is this way." Jiang Wei pointed to the correct direction.

"My father has made an arrangement for you to do first."

Jiang Wei raised his right eyebrow in confusion. _Is this truly the Chancellor's intention?_

Zhan guided Jiang Wei to the entrance of the garden with the peach trees. Jiang Wei grew suspicious. _What is this boy up to?_ Zhan halted his pace and rotated his body to face Jiang Wei. "Master Jiang Wei, I think Lady Yinping would like a man who is confident in his feelings."

Jiang Wei was dumbfounded. _So he planned to discuss this topic. He knew I would obey if he used his father's name. How cunning._

"I do not kno-"

"Do not lie. I heard your whole conversation with Master Ma Dai," Zhan revealed. "You're not a pervert, you're just shy. Confidence will boost your chance."

Jiang Wei was speechless. He could not even contemplate a response. This 12 year old was clearly the more confident one since he was the one giving relationship advice to a 26 year old.

"Zhan, this matter does not concern you," Jiang Wei finally spoke.

"It does because I want to help you," Zhan replied arrantly. "Your secret is safe with me unless I see that you never gain confidence."

The sound of tiny footsteps were present in the silent night. From a far, Jiang Wei's eyes caught the view of the dark haired lady walking toward them. She was holding two large peaches in her hands.

"Oh, there's Lady Yinping. She made it here on time." Zhan smiled mischievously. Jiang Wei glared at the boy irksomely.

"Uh, Master Jiang Wei." Yinping's said softly when she reached them. "Zhan knocked on my door and said you were craving the large peaches I got earlier today." She held both large peaches in front of her for Jiang Wei to grab. "He also mentioned that you have something to discuss with me?"

Jiang Wei scratched his head. _This clever boy. He surely will make a fine strategist._ He then received the peaches from her delicate, soft hands.

"Yea, I did. You're here now so I am leaving the both of you," Zhan replied as he hastily walked off. Zhan then turned around and shouted. "Master Jiang Wei, don't be shy about the peaches."

This caused Jiang Wei's cheeks to heat up in yet again in embarrassment. "My lady…about what Zhan said earlier today…his words, I did not mean…"

Yinping giggled. The sound of her laughter was refreshing to Jiang Wei's ears. "It's okay. Sometimes Zhan could be funny without trying. He reminds me of my brother Ping. Brother Ping would say silly things to comfort me when I used to cry or feel sad."

Although, he has been only in the Shu forces for six months, he was aware of how the death of Guan Yu and Guan Ping, from three years ago, still impacted her. Time had slowly healed her and transitioned her to be her optimistic self again, but she never forgot the pain. He had never met the two generals albeit he could see how family was valued to the remaining Guan siblings. He knew how they felt when losing love ones. Jiang Wei, had too, lost his father when he was seven years old. The experience was heartbreaking. When the tragic news was learn from the Battle of Fan Castle, the Guan family collapsed into despair and Jiang Wei heard how Yinping fell into a state of depression along with days of not consuming any meals. He wanted to sincerely comfort her with out any paybacks attached.

Jiang Wei inched closer to Yinping. He gazed into her light brown eyes. Those light brown eyes were quite different and precisely unique. Jiang Wei thought no one had eyes like hers.

Yinping's soft voice spoke again. "Let's talk about something else to lift the mood. How about our next battle…" Her sentence stopped mid-sentence when she realized how _close in contact_ Jiang Wei was.

"Yinping…" He uttered.

Her chest began to feel tight with everything seemed to be hot of how close he was. They were never this close before when in a conversation as friends. She found it odd that, although it made her uncomfortable, she liked it and wanted him to move even closer to her.

Much to their unawareness, a lone figure witnessed the two from the sidelines. He loathed the man who was next to the dark haired lady. He was first unsure of him joining the kingdom, certainly not fond of him, and now filled with envy and hatred of this man. His eyes burn of the sight of them whenever they were together. Right now his eyes wanted to go blind of how close in contact Jiang Wei was with this lady. The hand holding the wine bottle cracked and smashed it onto the floor into numerous pieces as a symbol of his bitterness to this man.

The sound of the wine bottle smashing, on to the floor, instantly alerted Jiang Wei and Guan Yinping making them move further apart from each other with her slightly jumping. They shifted their bodies to the sound of the accident and to discover it was one of Shu's mighty generals, Zhang Bao.

"Bao!" Yinping ran to his side and looked at the puddle of wine with its many shattered pieces. "Are you hurt?"

Bao glanced at the floor and then to Jiang Wei. "No."

"I'll get a maid to help me clean this," she said as she hurried inside the palace.

Bao brandished his hand to Jiang Wei when he was by his side. "Master Jiang Wei, go back and enjoy the rest of the game. Tell them I am sorry about the wine."

* * *

 **A/N:** Historically, Zhuge Liang did have a daughter and a son with the name Zhuge Zhan. I made up his daughter's name since her name was not recorded.

In this story, I wanted to create a cunning and a little mischievous character of young Zhuge Zhan.


	6. Dilemmas at Chencang

**Chapter 6: Dilemmas at Chencang**

It was mid-morning with the bright sun shining lively across the blue sky despite the contrast of the bloody battle taken place at Chencang. Cries, screams, moans, the swift movements of weapons, weapons banging onto shields and even prayers were heard throughout the battle field from both forces for the last 20 days (1). Shu's morals were decreasing by each day with many lives coming to an end for the sacrifice of both Shu and Wei kingdoms. The lack of supplies and funds placed Shu at a disadvantage. Soldiers, who were lucky to be alive, were all worn out from fighting or injured. Zhuge Liang along with the other strategists were in a constant stressful dilemma of planning out the next strategy of this battle of Chencang.

In Shu's main camp, Guan Yinping felt the stressful, calamity atmosphere from the impact of the battle. She thought the path of victory was fading away from Shu's grasp. In her heart, for she won't dare to speak of in this time and place, was that she cared more for the lives of her loved ones than winning this battle for her home kingdom. She knew, if this was revealed, as a person who severed Shu, she would be labeled as disloyal, to an extent a traitor and create a poor reputation for her family's name.

Yinping started to bite down onto her bottom lip. She dearly wished her brothers would survive this battle. She hoped that the worst to happen would be her brothers receiving scars or bruises from the battle. She had argued with her brothers, mostly with Xing, two days before Shu marched down to Chencang. Yinping remembered how vivid it was when she announced that she and Sanniang wanted to join them this time for battle. The Chancellor said he would allow them to participate on Shu's take on Chencang, but only if Xing approve since he was the head of the family. At the end, Xing approved reluctantly with his sister's and Sanniang's multiple arguments. The soul reason behind Yinping's desire, of joining her brothers, was due to her fear of the recurring nightmare of the lifeless bodies of both brothers becoming into reality.

"Yin." The voice broke Yinping away from her nervous thoughts. She turned to the direction of the familiar voice of her sister in-law.

Sanniang walked toward her sister in-law while holding bandages. Sanniang recognized Yinping have been constantly worried throughout the 20 days they were here just as much she was. She wanted to distract Yinping from anxious thoughts by having a little bit of fun. An idea popped in her head.

"The physician requested me to give these bandages to a general, but I am so tired since I did my part of the battlefield this morning. Can you please do this for me?" Sanniang faked a pleasing look.

"Yea, no problem," Yinping answered unaware of Sanniang's naughty scheme.

"Thank you," Sanniang smiled. She then pointed to a tent a little farther away from them and the rest of the crowd in the main camp. "The general is in that tent."

"Do you know who the general is?" Yinping asked as she grabbed the bandages from Sanniang.

"I have no idea," Sanniang lied. "The physician told me where his tent was and that the bandages are for one of his shoulders."

"Oh, okay," Yinping lastly said as she headed to the tent.

Sanniang slightly giggled as she watched Yinping walked to the tent. _Yinping, you will thank me later._

* * *

"My lord, your bandages are here," Yinping stated as she entered in the tent without permission. Once she stepped foot inside the tent, a rosy color immediately spread throughout her fair cheeks. Her light brown eyes have widen in surprise by what was presented before her.

The general's upper body was completely bare. The words from the female servants in the Shu palace were true after all. At that moment, she could not lie to herself that _she_ would agree with the female servants' compliments of their gossip about this general's figure. She did not expect to ever see _him_ like this and never planned to. Even with the noticeable large, bright crimson bruise on his right shoulder it was clearly visible that sweat glistened every inch of his exposed skin. Sweat still dripped from his sharp collar bones to his sculpted abdomen and stopped at his belly button. She wanted to shut her light brown eyes for seeing him bare like this although her eyes did indeed appreciate _this_ view of _him._

There were male soldiers and generals who trained in the Shu palace shirtless, sometimes, due to the hot heat. Yinping did catch a glimpse occasionally of those shirtless men; the idea of watching those men train for the purpose of observing their bodies not once ever crossed her mind. She was not those type of girls to find that activity as eye candy; some of the maids surely did. Ironically, her eyes like what they were seeing at the moment. At this realization, Yinping felt uncomfortable as hotness filtered in her rosy cheeks.

She pushed out her hands in front of her to present the bandages to the general. "Here are your bandages…I should have asked permission to enter first," she managed to say as her head faced the ground.

"Oh, my lady. I was expecting the physician instead."

Her head lifted up to meet his eyes. He hastily grabbed an outer garment of a hanfu (2), which was on a chair near him, and covered himself although the garment hung loosely with his chest and abdomen still exposed. Jiang Wei appeared calm in this situation in actuality he was fully flustered. The dark haired lady's presence was a surprise to him at this moment. It sidetracked his concern and stress of the possible outcome of Chencang for Shu.

Jiang Wei grabbed the bandages from Yinping's delicate hands. In order to hide his uneasiness, he grinned at her. "Thank you."

He turned around to a table after he thanked her.

"Master Jiang Wei," Yinping softly spoke. "I can help wrap the bandages on your bruise. I do this for my brothers sometimes." Before Jiang Wei could open his mouth to reply to her, she pulled up a chair right next to his by the table. Yinping snatched the bandages from Jiang Wei's hands. She gently pushed him down onto his chair and halfway hauled out his outer garment to examine his bruised shoulder after she sat down. She identified the bruise was recent from battle. She then started to wrap the bandages on his bruise. She realized this was the second time she have been this close in body contact with Jiang Wei. The memory of how close in contact he was with her, three days before the march to Chencang, flashed in her mind. Yinping ignored the memory in order to continue to focus on treating his bruise.

For several seconds both generals were silent during the treatment. Jiang Wei couldn't believe that she was the one who was helping him treat his wound. He noted how the dark haired lady's fingers brushed against the skin of his shoulders when wrapping the bandages. Her fingers felt soft and delicate. He enjoyed her subtle, brief touch. He gazed at her angelic face while she wrapped his bruise. Her light brown eyes concealed worry. Jiang Wei knew it was the concern of her remaining family members.

"Lady Yinping, despite our current situation in this battle, please do not be filled with worry," he said sincerely.

Yinping glanced up to Jiang Wei with an empty smile. "Thank you, Master Jiang Wei, for your concern. My worries cannot stray away from my thoughts though. I know it is more stressful for you, Brother Xing, the Chancellor and the other strategists ."

She tightened the last strap of the bandage on his shoulders. "It's all done."

Jiang Wei continued to gaze at her. Occasionally, he have seen her expression like this. She was most of time the optimistic dark haired beauty he harbored a crush on. As a friend, he wanted to comfort and console her. It indeed hurt him seeing her in this state.

"Thank you and if you need someone to talk to, my lady, I am all ears."

Yinping flashed her pearl white teeth to her friend. "Thanks." That was the smile Jiang Wei adored.

She inched her seat closer to him to be able to properly cover his bandaged shoulder with the outer garment of his hanfu. Jiang Wei felt Yinping's fingers brushed against his skin again. The feeling of uneasiness cast upon himself again along with his cheeks slowly being heated. He glanced down on her as she straighten the garment. Their bodies were even closer than a second ago. Yinping finally lifted her head up causing both pair of eyes to lock gaze with each other. Jiang Wei adored her light brown eyes. _Goodness, her eyes are beautiful._

Yinping bit her bottom lip. The nervousness she was feeling consume a different aura she has ever experienced before. _What is this? Why am I feeling like this?_ She blinked to break the eye contact between them. She sensed it was probably due to her awkwardness of being so close to a man that was not a family member or childhood friend. "I think I must be going now. Hopefully, your shoulder will heal fast. Good bye." Yinping said while standing up from her seat. She then hastily made her way out of the tent.

At the sight of the dark haired beauty exiting out of the tent, Jiang Wei wondered if any of his words or actions caused her to be uncomfortable as much as his feeling of this uneasiness.

* * *

The instant Yinping was out of the tent, she was dragged to the corner of the main camp out of ear shot from the crowd and especially from Jiang Wei.

"So, did you get to see something _good_ when you were in there, Yin?" Sanniang asked naughtily

"N-no!" Yinping replied with a blush on her face.

"Liar. You did get to see some of his body and you touched it, huh?" Sanniang pestered with a smile. "Wait, was his upper body bare?"

Yinping went silent at this question.

"He was! I didn't expect that." The older sister in-law laughed teasingly. "The maids at the palace would be so jealous of you!"

"You planned this?!"

Sanniang's laughter grew louder. "Sure did. Aren't you glad I handed that task to you? Did you like it?"

The dark haired lady's face transitioned into a deeper scarlet shade. "Why did you do this?"

"To distract you from our constant worry and to have a little fun," Sanniang winked. "You could have continued what would have happened from your first meeting with him almost seven months ago. I bet you got an eyeful."

"SANNIANG!" Yinping cried out in annoyance.

Sanniang giggled once again. "Yin, from my knowledge he's not promised to anyone."

Yinping was about to protest to Sanniang's constant teasing until a messenger rushed inside the main camp. The messenger halted in front of Zhuge Liang and bowed. "Chancellor, it is General Zhang Bao. He failed to secure the ramps. Our enemy Hao Zhao burned most of our siege weapons. "

"WHAT?! This will bring us even more damage than what we already have," Zhuge Liang snarled sharply.

"General Zhang Bao is also ambushed inside the middle building of the castle. He is severely wounded and isolated from his men," the messenger announced urgently. "There's word that Zhang He is the one leading the ambush unit."

"A few of our generals and soldiers are on the battlefield while most of our soldiers are dead or being treated. Sending reinforcements with take a while or would not reach Zhang Bao on time," Zhuge Liang noted with the unchanging snarl. "You may be dismissed."

"Oh my, Bao is in a tight spot. He needs help," Sanniang anxiously said once the messenger disappeared from sight. She turned around to find that she was alone.

* * *

"Come on, Red Hare. I know you are tired, but please we need to help Bao," Yinping pleaded with her father's valued horse. The youngest Guan child was currently on horseback with her dual mace on the battlefield in search to rescue Bao. _Please, I don't want to lose Bao either._

A moment ago she ran to gather her weapon and Red Hare, in the main camp, the instant the news about Bao was leaked from the messenger. For the past 20 days, she was constantly worried about her brothers likewise she would feel the same way toward Bao. Family was important to Yinping. Bao was also part of her definition of family no matter how many times he argued or annoyed her.

Red Hare obeyed Yinping's plea of galloping rapidly across the battlefield. The horse did not want to lose its reputation as the fastest among all horses.

Yinping sadly observed the scene surrounding her. Countless dead bodies accessorized the battlefield with puddles of blood. Additionally, numerous weapons and body parts were scattered everywhere or grouped into piles.

"Bao, please hold on," Yinping begged.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **1:** Historically, the Battle of Chencang took place for 20 days.

 **2:** A Hanfu is the traditional Han Chinese attire.

 **-** If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story you can ask/tell me about it and I might use it since sometimes I also run out of ideas. I will also credit you.

\- Reviews and constructive criticisms are appreciated. :)


	7. A Brother's Tears

**Chapter 7: A Brother's Tears**

"Shoot. Of course, the doors would be shut tight," Yinping observed when she and Red Hare reached the front of the middle building of the castle of Chencang. The anxious feeling continued to storm her body. Her heart endlessly pound in panic.

" _He is severely wounded and isolated from his men."_ The messenger's words echoed in her head. She looked at the numerous dead bodies that surrounded her and Red Hare. One soldier's body had fresh blood spilling out from the top of his crushed head. Her thoughts lead to the horrifying image of Bao being drowned in his own pool of blood. Yinping closed her eyes and shook her head. "Bao, I am coming for you."

She opened her light brown eyes and bit her bottom lip. _First, I have to get in there._

Next to the blood leaking from the head of the dead soldier was a giant club. Yinping recognized it was a weapon that would guarantee full damages.

She got off of Red Hare, dropped her dual mace onto the bloody ground, and dragged the heavy weapon before she faced the double doors.

Yinping lifted the giant club and banged it to the center of the dense, thick double doors. The doors slightly cracked. She banged it again. The crack grew bigger. She banged the doors for the third time. The crack continued to grow. Sweat fell from her scalp to her neck. _One more time._ She put even more force into the last bang. The double doors finally shattered into pieces.

Soldiers in blue armor circled around Zhang Bao who struggled to even stand on his own two feet due to how severely injured and exhausted his body was.

"Bao!" Yinping shouted as she ran to him without thinking of how to approach the ambush unit first.

"Yinping!" Bao shouted back as his eyes widen in surprise. He slashed a few Wei soldiers, with his flail sword, who were all running with their swords raised to slaughter Yinping.

The dark haired lady knocked out the Wei soldiers with the club as she ran to Bao. "Bao, I'm here," she said when she was close to him.

Arrows flew, toward the spot where the Shu generals stood, from Wei archers who were stationed at the north part of the room. Bao's flail sword blocked both him and Yinping from the flying arrows. "Why are you here, Yinping?" She noticed how weak and feeble his voice sounded.

"To help you," she replied.

In the corner of his eyes, Bao spotted an arrow, in the air, aiming to Yinping's left shoulder that was not fully shield by his flail sword. He quickly grabbed her close to his body and swirled them to the direction of that flying arrow and blocked it with his weapon. Yinping felt how close her right breast touched the left side of Bao's chest which was stained with blood. She was too worried of the outcome of their current situation to even feel uncomfortable of the body contact.

"I wish there was another way for you to not see me like this," Bao said.

"That doesn't matter right now. You will leave this place alive."

Bao looked at the dark haired lady. Her light brown eyes displayed her determination.

The double doors from the north side of the room opened. A few more Wei soldiers appeared from the doors with Zhang He behind the group.

Zhang He spotted the two young Shu generals and noted their relationship. "This is rather interesting." He then raised his voice. "Stop the arrows."

The flying arrows finally came to a halt.

Yinping pulled away from Bao. Both of them were in a fighting stance.

The Wei general marched his way toward the young Shu generals. His face wore a cold expression. His pair claw weapon appeared to give a deadly aura. He halted his pace a few steps in front of the Shu generals. Zhang He smiled.

"Seeing a pair like this surely makes the battle lovely," Zhang He said.

"What are you saying?" Bao replied aggressively with his flail sword ready to strike. He started to breath heavily.

Zhang He continued to smile and ignored Bao's question. "You look severely injured. Makes it faster to end this."

The Wei general was about to strike deeply into Bao's flesh until Yinping jumped in front of her friend and blocked the attack with the club.

She expressed a threatening look toward this enemy. "This battle is not over yet."

"How unfortunate that I will have to crush this beautiful flower too," Zhang He commented.

Yinping swung the club to Zhang He's head. Zhang He's claw weapons successfully blocked it. He almost stumbled backward due to the impact of the force she exerted on the club weapon.

"Men, let's show the youth the beauty of war," the Wei general shouted. "Attack the boy. Leave the girl to me."

Arrows preceded to fly across the room and target at Bao while soldiers armed with swords rushed to attack him in groups.

Yinping and Zhang He continued their dual. The dark haired lady thought this was the toughest opponent she has ever faced so far. He blocked and dodged almost every attack she strike at him. She finally slammed the club to his side. Zhang He grunted in pain, but his claw weapon immediately scratched deeply into her right thigh. Yinping gasped in pain. Three long cuts were visibly seen on her right thigh. Blood dripped from her thigh to her ankle.

"I can sense that this isn't your primary weapon, but you are skilled," Zhang He mentioned while standing in a defense position. "Women who are skilled in martial arts or weaponry experience a life of tragedy or suffocating situations compared to ordinary women."

"You don't know who I am!" She growled with a hostile glare. Yet, she knew it was true she had fallen into a pit of sadness before.

Zhang He smiled. "I'm honored to fight a woman like you. I will spare your life. Hao Zhao will repel Shu anyway so there's no point in killing you."

He turned to face his ambush unit. "The rest of you retreat back to our main camp." He then looked down onto the dark haired lady. "Women like you will overcome it though."

Wei soldiers followed his order and marched out of the room. The groups surrounding Bao quickly dispersed. Bao was seen lying on the ground with fresh blood staining his torso.

"Bao!" Yinping shouted with teary eyes as she ran to him.

"Yinping, I…" Bao managed to whisper while she got a hold of him.

"No, Bao. You will make it here alive." Her tears dripped onto Bao's face.

From behind the entrance of the north part of the room, an archer positioned his bow and arrow to aim at Bao.

"Put your bow down," Zhang He commanded.

The archer obeyed. "But Master Zhange He, why would you spare their lives?"

Zhang He stared at the dark haired lady. "That flower is going to continue to welter."

* * *

"We're almost there," Yinping announced as she and Bao rode on Red Hare through the battlefield.

Bao's back was leaning onto Yinping's chest while she guided Red Hare. She could feel his back raised every time he breathed. Bao was currently resting his eyes and his body was too injured to be the one guiding the horse. From this battle, he gained many scares, wounds, and bruises. His torso and clothing were covered in his blood which stained Yinping's clothing when he leaned against her.

Yinping's body began to feel fatigue as each second passed. Her right thigh ached with those three deep cuts Zhang He had given her. She knew she had to endure the pain until they reached the main camp. She had to endure the pain until Bao was in safe hands.

"Hold on," Yinping said faintly. Her eyes desired to droop shut. Bao winced in pain for his ached body. He held tightly onto the dark haired lady's left arm. He did not grip on to her left arm for he was exhausted and severely injured. He wanted to hold onto her left arm because he knew feebleness was engulfing her body. He wanted to hold onto her because he cared for her condition more than his and to ensure they will be okay.

"Yinping, thank you…I want to say…"

"Lady Yinping. Master Zhang Bao." The injured Shu generals lifted their head up to the direction of a familiar Shu general's voice. It was Jiang Wei on his horse. He hastily mounted toward them. The feeling of ease settled onto the young strategist when discovering those two were alive. When the news were reported to him, he immediately gathered soldiers as reinforcement and in a search party, along with consisting Suo, Xing, and Xingcai, to find them.

Yinping got off from Red Hare although Bao's grip tightened on her left arm. She frailly looked at him. "It's Jiang Wei…He is our help. I'll tell him what happened." Bao released his hold on her left arm.

Jiang Wei got off from his horse when he was across from them. He walked up to Yinping. "Are you all alright?"

"Jiang…Wei," the dark haired lady whispered. The last thing she saw was Jiang Wei before she collapsed onto his arms and into unconsciousness.

* * *

Slowly, Yinping's eyes opened gently. She observed her environment. She was no longer on the battlefield instead she was inside a tent with a serene quietness. She didn't remember anything after Bao had thanked her for aiding him. She touched the surrounding by her sides and recognized she was wrapped in a blanket on a cot. She placed her right hand on the cold wet towel that was laid on her head. Her body did not feel as fatigue as she did before, but her body wanted to remain laying on the cot.

The image of Bao's injured state zoomed in her mind

"Bao," she said as she sat up quickly which made the cold wet towel fall from her head to the cot. Her head ached.

"Yinping, stay here," Sanniang worriedly said as she was sitting on a chair next to the cot. "Rest more. Bao has already been treated and is currently resting."

"But I have to see him. I want to see him."

"Will you stop acting like that?!" Sanniang raised her voice harshly. "I thought that we will not only lose Bao, but also you, my sister."

Silence filled in the room. Yinping knew how even Suo would be terrified at the brutal glare his wife was displaying.

"Listen to me. Bao will be fine. Rest for a little longer and then you can go see him," Sanniang said with a kinder tone.

The younger sister in-law laid on her back and shut her eyes. How could she rest peacefully when knowing her childhood friend was severely injured and barely made it out alive?

Sanniang stared at her sister in-law. She then placed the cold wet towel back onto Yinping's head.

She sighed. "Yinping, sometimes you could be so reckless."

Several minutes passed when Yinping woke up. Sanniang was right after all. Resting for several moments longer would benefit the human body. Her body felt much better than before.

Yinping sat up from her cot as she took off the towel from her head. She noticed she was alone. She set the towel on the right side of the cot which was next to her right thigh. She hadn't realize until now that she was in new clean clothing and her right thigh was wrapped securely with a bandage. Voices were easily heard outside the tent.

"Brother, don't show your anger to her."

"How can I not? Suo, why are you suddenly so calm?"

"She is exhausted. I am as much as annoyed by this like you, but right now she doesn't need us to nag at her."

"She had us all worried. Of course, we would be angry. She took a risky chance that would have ended her life."

When hearing about this, Yinping bit her bottom lip.

"Brother, we will talk about this later. Let's check up on her."

Both remaining Guan brothers entered the tent to unexpectantly find their little sister awake from her rest.

Yinping's hands gripped onto the blanket. "There's no need for you to be angry. I am alive and fine."

The older brothers looked at each other with surprise by discovering she was listening to their conversation.

Suo walked toward her. "Yinping, that was risky. Let's focus on you right now."

Xing's normally calm demeanor contorted into irritation. His nostrils flair, eyebrows pulling downward, eyes flashing and closing into slits with both his hands formed into fists. That was the scowl his younger siblings were familiar with.

"Damnit, Yinping. Do know how worried sick we were because of you?" Xing hollered hoarsely. "You shouldn't be so fearless. Are you that eager to join our father and brother?"

"Don't raise your voice at her at a time like this," Suo defended.

"No, you're wrong," Yinping spoke with teary eyes. She was upset, angry, annoyed and lastly relieved when detecting her brothers were at least in good condition from today's battle. "I am not fearless."

Her right hand flew to where her heart was. "I am constantly scared for the lives of the people I care about so that's why I aided Bao."

Xing released an annoyed huff. "I was careless. I shouldn't let you join this battle."

The same right hand of hers pointed at Xing. "With no doubt, you would do the same for us, Bao, and Sanniang. So why are you so mad at this?"

"Such a child... You don't understand, do you?" Xing replied furiously with the unchanging grimace. He walked to her cot. "I promise myself that you and Suo will be protected not like how I couldn't protect Father and Brother."

Despite Xing's rage, his lips quivered as his eyes became watery. Yinping noticed the façade Xing was trying his best to still wear. _Damn_. Xing thought to himself as he hung his head low.

Yinping looked into her brother's eyes. Guilt and fear casted upon his eyes. She reached for him and pulled his arm to embrace him tightly. "I am sorry," she whispered after she realized that she didn't even consider her brothers' feelings. Her garment had wet spots from the tears that fell from Xing's eyes. During the time of the siblings' grieving of Guan Yu and Guan Ping, Yinping had never once spotted Xing to cry. In their grieving, he was most of the time silent. She remembered how dull his eyes looked in those days. Xing felt ashamed for he, now, the older brother of the remaining Guan siblings, was crying. He vowed he would be strong enough for his younger siblings. His emotions betrayed him. He feared that someday _he_ would betray his vow.

Yinping blinked away her hot, wet tears. "I am sorry," she whispered again. Suo joined the warm, tight embrace of his siblings'. Xing's last sentence caused Suo's feelings longed to wish their pain and heartbreak to disappear. After a moment, the hug broke. Xing wiped away his tears. "Yinping, there's no need for you to be sorry. I apologize. It's probably due to the over protectiveness of the brother I am."

"Hey!" Suo commented.

"And Suo's too," Xing added and looked into her light brown eyes. "You're right. Without you, Bao would probably not be here right now."

He kissed the top of his little sister's head. "Next time, don't take reckless tasks that will worry us."

Yinping nodded in response. Several seconds passed as each sibling calmed down their emotions.

"I think I should see Bao right now." Yinping broke the silence as she gently got off from her cot. Both of her older brothers nodded at her in approval. After she exited out of the tent she paused, in front of it, to what Suo said.

"Thank goodness that Jiang Wei found them on time. He even carried Yinping to her tent when they arrived in the main camp."

Yinping blinked at this. _He carried me?_

"We are in his debt. He was the one who gathered reinforcements and led a search party for them," Xing added.

The memory of her falling onto Jiang Wei's arms on the battlefield filled her mind. The dark haired lady placed her hand on her mouth in surprise. The very same man who made her feel nervous with new emotions, earlier that morning in the main camp, willingly searched for her and Bao. Those same feelings of that morning came back to her when imagining him carrying her unconscious body.

Yinping shook the thought away. She was grateful for Jiang Wei. The dark haired lady was in debt to him and wanted to kindly repay him back.

* * *

 **A/N:**

I don't really write fighting scenes that well. I'm also unsure about this chapter compared to the rest so far.

Reviews, Critiques, Constructive Criticisms are inspirational and appreciated. :) Plus, it helps me be aware of what I lack in writing.


	8. Aching Feelings

**Chapter 8: Aching Feelings**

The moon and stars brighten the dark night as Yinping headed to Bao's tent. Her mind wondered endlessly about Bao, her brothers, what happened in battle and lastly, this unusual anxious feeling she had for Jiang Wei. This feeling made her chest ached. She knew this anxious feeling had nothing to do with her injury from battle. It was annoying her. She couldn't figure out an answer to this feeling. The dark haired lady placed a hand on her chest. Her chest was beating fast and her whole body became warm when picturing Jiang Wei. Her face became even more heated when remembering his exposed upper body and how close in-contact they were in the morning. She bit her bottom lip. _Am I becoming crazy?_

Before entering, Yinping stopped in front of Bao's tent to calm herself. She shook her head as if this feeling would shake away. Once her feelings have settled, she entered the tent. Her light brown eyes immediately scanned the room for Bao. Her eyes traveled to the corner of the tent to find Bao asleep on a cot. She dashed to stand beside the cot. A wet towel was place on his forehead, clean clothes replaced his battle attire, and bandages were wrapped around both arms and his abdomen.

Yinping's eyes and heart were relieved that Bao was alive and his wounded body was taken care of. For now, he could rest from battle.

"Yinping?" Xingcai asked as she stood up from the seat which was next to Bao's cot.

Yinping's directed her attention to Xingcai. She was too concern for Bao that she did not take note of Xingcai's presence in the room.

"I came here to see Bao. I was worried about him," she answered.

"Unh." Bao uttered in his sleep as he slightly shifted his body on the cot. Both ladies looked at him. Yinping thought Bao looked vulnerable in his sleep.

"He was severely wounded. Luckily, both of you made it here to the main camp." Xingcai stated calmly. She then shifted her gaze into Yinping's light brown eyes. Many people have said that Xingcai was a woman who barely display human emotions in front of anybody. Her strict demeanor caused many soldiers to be afraid her, especially newcomers. No soldier would dare to disobey her orders for the fear of her scoldings and consequences she would planned for them.

"Yinping, thank you for aiding my brother," Xingcai said sincerely.

At this moment, Yinping noticed how Xingcai's hollow eyes were full of forlorn and worry. Yinping remembered those were the same eyes of this childhood friend after hearing horror stories when they were little. Those were the same eyes when news announced Zhang Fei's death. Those were the same eyes when a messenger announced the result of Fan Castle. Those were the same eyes, Yinping knew her oldest brother, Guan Ping adored.

Yinping placed her right hand on Xingcai's right shoulder. "We have known each other since we were children. We are like family."

Xingcai smiled back at her. In this moment, this was the first time in many years, Yinping felt her and Xingcai were childhood friends again.

The flaps of the tent were suddenly lifted to reveal Jiang Wei. The dark haired lady eyes' met with his, when he entered inside the tent. The uneasy feeling washed over her as her face slightly heated. She would never thought she would enjoy looking into someone's eyes, let alone a man who caused her to experience unexplained feelings. Jiang Wei adored the light brown eyes of the woman he admired, but he broke their gaze when he faced Xingcai. Yinping had no idea the reason behind her feeling slightly sad when Jiang Wei broke their eye contact to look at someone else. She bit her bottom lip.

"I came to check on Master Zhang Bao," Jiang Wei announced. He briefly glanced at Yinping. "Lady Yinping, I was also planning to check up on you, but your brothers told me you were here checking on him too." The young strategist grinned. "I see that you have rested well."

Yinping nodded in reply. The anxious feeling slowly flustered her body. She craved for his eyes to glance a second longer onto her.

"Master Jiang Wei," Xingcai spoke and bowed. "Thank you. We are in your debt. If you haven't found them then…"

"Please don't thank me, Lady Xingcai. I wanted to help my comrades." Jiang Wei took a step closer to the sleeping Bao and examined him. "He's a general who endured a lot today in battle for Shu. He's a mighty warrior."

The young strategist then turned to face the female generals and looked into the eyes of the woman he harbored a crush on. When the news was reported to him about Bao and Yinping, he was buried in the feelings of worry, concern, and fear. Nonetheless, he was determine to bring both of them back to the main camp alive. He wanted to be able to see his Dark Haired Beauty live even when she didn't have an ounce of knowledge of his feelings for her. As Ma Dai would joke, Jiang Wei was a hopeless romantic.

"I will check up on Master Zhang Bao again later tonight," Jiang Wei declared after he blinked which caused the downfall of his brief lock gazed with Yinping. He believed if he continued to look into those light brown eyes even longer she would feel uncomfortable like this morning. Jiang Wei didn't want her to feel like this toward him. He then headed to the entrance of the tent. Before leaving he paused and said, "I will also check on you too, Lady Yinping. Good night."

Yinping watched as his long brown ponytail swayed as he exited out of the tent. She had the urge to pursue him to thank him personally for what he did for her. In the back of her head, a voice was saying she actually _wanted_ to _see_ him for a moment longer and to talk to him. Her eyes yearned to see more of him. Her ears demanded to hear more of the sound of his voice. She desired to simply be in the same room with him again even if it would be them uncomfortably by themselves. Even if they would be close in body contact. _What am I thinking?_

The dark haired lady bit her bottom lip as her chest proceeded to ache while feeling anxious.

She spun her head to Xingcai.

"It's getting late. I think my brothers want me back in my tent to rest some more," Yinping said falsely as an excuse to leave the tent. She hoped Xingcai would not notice her anxious aura.

"Go then," Xingcai nodded.

Before Yinping exited the tent, she glanced down at Bao.

"Bao, in no time, you will be back on your feet again," she whispered.

The dark haired lady swiftly walked out of the tent.

"Ugh…Yinping…" The fainted words escaped Bao's lips as his body slightly budged in his sleep.

Xingcai clearly heard the name her brother faintly uttered.

* * *

Jiang Wei was all alone in his tent. He wore the expression of concentration as he studied the map of the battlefield of Chencang. His arms were crossed as his eye brows narrowed. His eyes traced every route, building, and detail of the map that was laying on the wooded table. He acknowledged that Shu's chance of victory, for this battle, was slim. Numerous soldiers were exhausted, wounded or dead from battle. Supplies and funds declining contributed to Shu's decreasing moral.

The young strategist very well knew Wei was at a widespread advantage. Wei burned the majority of Yueying's siege weapons and featured skilled, strong officers and veterans. He met his former comrades, which he used to call them as friends, on the battlefield and was familiar of the skills they possessed that would certainly create heavy damages. When fighting in the battlefield, those former comrades spat out profanities and called him "traitor" who was hiding behind Zhuge Liang's tail.

He scratched his head. His brainstorming of a new strategy to crumble the enemy did not fit the scenario between the opposing forces. Jiang Wei along with the other strategists and Zhuge Liang were in a constant stressful dilemma. If any plans were formed, it would be restricted due to Wei having the upper hand.

This battle was surely long, restless and challenging. Shu was certainly trapped in a difficult position. A sigh escaped from the young strategist's mouth as his shoulders slump down.

Jiang Wei's ears perked at the sound of footsteps that were outside of his tent. He became alert and attentive. The sound was becoming closer with each step. The sound finally halted.

"Master Jiang Wei?" A familiar soft voice was heard.

He rotated his body toward the entrance of the tent. He recognized her soft voice. Her voice was an angelic tune to his ears.

"May I enter? It's Guan Yinping."

The look of confusion infused his face. _What brings her here? She should be back in her tent and resting._ As much Jiang Wei would be delighted to meet his Dark Haired Beauty, he was concern for her health and if his presence would currently cause her discomfort much like what happened in the morning. Although, he wanted to know her reason for coming here.

"You may come, my lady," Jiang Wei responded.

His Dark Haired Beauty entered inside his tent. The light, from the candle on the table, illuminated the tent and silhouetted her hour glass figure. Suddenly, all his stress and focus on this battle of Chencang disperse the instant his eyes landed onto her. Even in dull, plain clothes and the exhausted expression she wore, she still took his breath away. The young strategist thought how ridiculous it was for him to lose concentration by the presence of her voice, her shadow, and her appearance. He knew she was innocent and did not meant to do it on purpose. After all, she had no knowledge of his feelings. She had no idea how she was in pulsing to him.

"I know it's late," Guan Yinping spoke as she walked toward him. The aching feeling continued to haunt her as her tiny footsteps brought her closer to him.

"But thank you. Thank you for what you did today. Thank you." Yinping said when she was right in front of him.

She bowed. "I am in your debt."

Yinping looked up to meet his eyes. Earlier, she craved for his eyes to focus at only her. Her wish was accomplished since they were both alone in his tent. Though, she did not know the reason she craved for his attention when in the morning she felt uneasy to be close in body contact with him. She bit her lip.

Jiang Wei looked down at her. _So this was her reason._

"My lady, like I said before I only wanted to help out my comrades," he said as he boldly took hold of her hand as if it was natural to do so. "Please don't thank me. Ever since we met we've been exchanging thank yous and apologies between each other."

Yinping's body started to heat merely due to her small hand was wrapped around his. The warmth of his hand sent chills throughout her body while her chest felt tight. Her hand slipped away from his and she took a step back. She liked his touch and wanted him to hold her hand longer, but she hated how it made her feel uneasy. _What is wrong with me, right now?_

The young strategist sensed her uneasiness again. He blamed himself, if he had not held her hand then she wouldn't have reacted this way.

She glanced at the ground and back to him. She didn't want him to be aware of her anxious state. She believed she had to say or do something to hide her emotions.

"You are right, we have been saying that often to each other," she said calmly to disguise her true emotions. "So, Master Jiang Wei, I will take my thank you back from you, but I am still grateful for your actions."

Immediately, Jiang Wei grinned at her innocence albeit he acknowledged she was hiding her uneasiness.

"Well, then, I won't hear a thank you from you anytime soon, right, my lady?"

"Right," she responded. She started to feel calmer with the aching feeling in her chest still present.

Jiang Wei then remembered her injured right thigh. "How does your right thigh feel?"

 _Oh, my thigh._ Yinping completely forgot about her injured thigh since she left her tent.

"Um, I honestly forget about my thigh." She slowly grazed her right hand onto the right side of her trousers that covered her right thigh. "It has been securely bandaged. I think I will be able to fight again once it heals."

Unknowingly, when the dark haired lady's hand grazed against her right thigh, it caused Jiang Wei to become flustered by her movements. His eyes traced every single movements of how her hand slid slowly against her right thigh. Those simple movements could lure thoughts that were far from innocent. Thoughts that could be indecent. The young strategist altered his view to the ground to ease himself. His chest gave a heavy thud. Her very movements triggered his memory of what happened in her tent after he rescued her and Bao.

 _Jiang Wei watched Yinping breathed, who was lying unconsciously on her cot. His heart was relieved and thankful to find her and Bao alive. Although, it indeed pained him to see her body in this feeble, exhausted state along with three long, deep cuts that were visibly on her right thigh._

 _Those deep, long, crimson cuts covered the majority of her right thigh. He knew very well who illustrated those cuts onto her. He was familiar of the throbbing pain of those sharp pair claws when the weapons sink into human flesh. He thought it was fortunate for her to be alive after facing General Zhang He._

 _He continued to stare at her sleeping face. She looked so delicate. He wanted to protect her either it was physical or emotional pain. Jiang Wei reached for the side of her head and tucked a few strands of her dark hair behind her ear. She was still beautiful in this state._

" _Master Jiang Wei," Bao Sanniang's voice caused him to propel his hand away from Yinping._

 _Jiang Wei's head instantly turned to Sanniang. She was holding a bucket of water in one hand with the other holding a basket that was filled with fresh, clean clothes, bandages, a cloth, and towels and a bottle of rubbing alcohol._

" _Oh, Lady Sanniang," he said as his cheeks rose in warmth. He dearly hoped Sanniang didn't notice his actions. "I didn't see you come in."_

 _Sanniang raised her eyebrows and strolled toward the cot._

" _Probably because you were too busy looking at Yinping. I don't blame you since she is pretty."_

 _Jiang Wei was speechless. He couldn't find words to reply back to her._

 _She set the items on the table next to the cot._

" _Thank you so much for finding my sister and Bao…Sometimes she could be reckless without knowing it," Sanniang mentioned._

 _Sanniang ripped a part of Yinping's battle attire from where the deep cuts were. Blood stained Yinping's bottom attire and pale thigh. Sanniang then started to rub alcohol with a cloth onto the tip of one of Yinping's cuts which was near her intimate area. Jiang Wei glanced at another direction deeming it was inappropriate to watch a woman being treated near a private area._

" _Such a gentleman, Master Jiang Wei. You turned your eyes to a different direction," Sanniang complimented. "If you haven't done that then you would have got a mouthful from me."_

 _Few seconds have passed. Jiang Wei felt the awkwardness as he proceeded to stare at a blank space of the tent._

" _Yinping was the one who treated your bruise this morning," Sanniang said to break the silence and lift away the awkwardness. A smirked mischievously appeared on her face. "Was she_ reckless _with you?"_

 _Jiang Wei was startled by the last sentence and looked at Sanniang. The image of Yinping treating his bruise flashed into his mind._

" _She did treat my bruise. If you are asking, nothing inappropriate happened. I wouldn't dare do such things."_

 _Sanniang ignored his reply as she wrapped the bandages onto Yinping's thigh while Jiang Wei avoided to gaze at the action._

" _From my knowledge you're not promised to anyone, am I right?"_

" _Lady Sanniang, why is this a concern?" Jiang Wei asked puzzlingly._

" _I am merely asking. If you were promised to someone than I'm sure your lady wouldn't want you to be in the same room with Yinping being treated like this. If she were to know how close Yin's injures were to her…area."_

 _A cherry color spread throughout Jiang Wei's cheeks and he was once again lost at words._

 _Sanninag tighten the last strap of the bandage onto Yinping's wounded thigh. She placed her hands onto the collar of Yinping's top and rotated her head to Jiang Wei._

" _I'm going to wash her entire body so I need to strip off her battle attire completely," Sanniang informed. "It would be surely scandalous if you, a man, were to still stay here. If you were Yin's husband it would be a different story. You would be able to stay here and help wash her. It is appropriate for you to leave right now."_

 _Jiang Wei felt the atmosphere of the tent rise in blazing temperature by imagining he was the one wiping away all the sweat, blood and dirt from Yinping's bare body. The image of his hand sliding a wet towel against her naked, smooth body and the other hand roaming from her tiny waist to one side of her hips prompted his own body to flare up. He swallowed at his thought and looked down at the ground._

 _The young strategist was too embarrassed to face Sannaing. He was completely disappointed and disturbed at himself to visualize such an indecent thought. He didn't want to do or think anything that was rash._

 _Jiang Wei marched toward the entrance of the tent without peeking at both of the female generals. Leaving the tent at that second would calm down his thoughts._

" _I apologize for creating an awkward setting. I will check on Lady Yinping and Master Zhang Bao tonight," He said in a heavy tone before he exited out of the tent._

"Master Jiang Wei." The dark haired lady's soft voice geared the man's attention back to the present. "How about your bruise from this morning? It was a fresh one. I hope it didn't get worse from helping me."

He profoundly looked at her. She had the power to cause numerous mixed emotions to crash onto him. Whenever she was around he fell into the traps of those emotions and became distracted, from his focus, at times. He couldn't escape from his feelings ever since he met her and he was severely ambushed by those feelings as he got to know more of her. None of his past lovers made him feel this way before. Yinping was the only woman who had the control to do so.

"You are the one with severe injury, my lady. Don't worry about me," Jiang Wei replied with his best at trying to sound composed. "Resting more would help heal your injuries faster."

She nodded to him. "Okay. I should be going then." Yinping wanted to remain standing there with him. She didn't want to part to her tent this soon. She knew he only shooed her away for his concern of her health.

Jiang Wei's question interfered Yinping from rotating her body to walk away from him.

"Was it Wei's general, Zhang He, who marked you with those cuts?"

"Yes, he did," she answered. "I think Bao and me are lucky for he gave us mercy. If it was someone else, we would probably been slaughtered."

His feet brought him to step closer to her. He could feel her breathing touched his chest. They were close in body contact just like the night when they were in the peach garden which was three days before the march to Chencang. Yinping's heart pound with an uncomfortable feeling of how close their bodies were. Contrast to this, she craved for him to become closer to her until only their chests were against each other.

"Zhang He is a mighty general. Its fortunate both of you are alive," Jiang Wei said. He noticed how alluring her pink lips looked on her flawless face. His conscience reminded him of how inappropriate, rash, and dangerously close he was to her body. He stepped back and mentally cursed at himself for his actions. He must not cross the border line.

The dark haired lady felt a bit sadden when he broke the closeness between them. She wanted to change this unnerving atmosphere by mentioning her memory of Zhange He's words.

"Before Zhange He gave me these cuts and retreated, he said that Hao Zhao would repel Shu and that there was no point in killing me. He was confident in his words as if he was positive of the battle's outcome," Yinping mentioned.

The young strategist scratched his head. _It seems Wei is scheming one plan this whole time. As if everything they did was to distract us._

"The information is helpful. I need to inform this to the rest of the strategists," Jiang Wei remarked.

The dark haired lady smiled her pearl white teeth. "Well, I'm glad that was helpful."

She was truly glad that she was at least helpful in this situation for him. Zhang He's other statement ,about her, sprung into her mind. She taught it was best to not mentioned it to Jiang Wei. Yinping didn't want him to be concern over an enemy's words toward her when it didn't involve Shu. After she made up her mind, she completely rotated her body and began walking to exit out of the tent.

Jiang Wei watched as she walked. The candles illuminated her hour glass figure with her long, dark hair acting as her shadow. She turned around before stepping out of the tent. She desired to be with this man longer. She craved to be alone with him. She wanted to be close to his body. Her chest was tense when she looked at him. Her hand settled onto on her chest. Her heart was pounding fast. Her body felt anxious with her warm cheeks.

"I have this weird feeling in my chest…maybe I need more rest like you said," Yinping stated. "Good bye, Master Jiang Wei."

She stepped out of the tent with her heart remained pounding.

Jiang Wei watched his Dark Haired Beauty disappeared from his tent. He laid his hand onto his throbbing chest.

"I have this weird feeling in my chest too," the young strategist said.

* * *

Yinping was sitting on a bench, under the giant peach tree, in the peach garden of the palace. The afternoon was quiet and serene with the cool breeze blowing her lengthy hair. She just got done visiting Red Hare in the horse stalls and thought she would have enough time to admire the garden before heading to her chambers.

It has been one week since the Battle of Chencang took place. Shu unfornately lost the battle on the 20th night and retreated due to Wei severely crushing Shu's morals while being the one with the upper hand. Shortage of supplies, exhausted soldiers, and not deciphering Wei's schemes also contributed to Shu's retreat.

Her hand rested onto her right thigh. Her thigh was in the process of healing. She was positive her cuts would transitioned into scars. Jiang Wei's face zoomed into her mind. She was still grateful for him for what he did that day. What was frustrating her was that her chest ached whenever she was around him. Her chest ached, but it wasn't painful. She didn't know the reason she yearned to be around this man and why she fondled nervously when he was close by lately. Her feelings were complicated to her.

"Yinping." A masculine voice caused her to break away from her thoughts. She faced the person in front of her. It was Zhang Bao. He was no longer injured or exhausted from the battle. Just like how Yinping declared, once he was healed he would be back on his two feet.

"Hi, Bao. What brings you here?" Her gentle voice greeted him.

Bao fidgeted his thumbs as he stared at her. His body was tensed as his palm sweated. His stomach churned at his anxious mood.

"I need to tell you something," Bao answered as he looked down at her light brown eyes. "From our last battle, I realized life is too short especially when in war and in a time of chaos. As warriors, we commit our lives to fight for our kingdom."

Bao released a heavy sigh and dearly peered down into Yinping. He felt he was going to tremble as his body burned with this confession of his. He deemed this was more difficult than being trapped in an enemy ambush.

"I don't want to be childhood friends anymore." Bao managed to say.

"What do you mean by that?" Yinping asked in a confused tone. _He's not making sense._

Bao sat on the bench next to Yinping and wrapped both of his large hands onto her small hands.

His heart was beating rapidly by each second. Yinping could feel how moist his palms were.

"This isn't like me to say things like this, but…" He leaned in toward her which made their noses almost touched. "I been having these deep feelings for you for a long time, Yinping… I like you... a lot… No, my feelings are more than that."

The dark haired lady's eyes widen at the sudden surprised. All at once, she pulled her hands away from his grip and leaned away from him as her mind registered what Bao had said. She was lost at words on how to answer him. He was a childhood friend, her brother's sworn brother, and was considered to be like family to her. Yinping knew he wouldn't be anything else than that for she didn't share those same feelings for him.

She bit her bottom lip.

Her actions caused Bao to stand up from the bench. He accused himself of not preparing to face how Yinping would react. He did not wish to place an awkward border between them.

"Yinping, I know this is unexpected. I am not asking you to consider my feelings right now… I just want you to know how I feel about you..." Bao reasoned. "I will wait for you to accept me."

"Bao, w-what if I don't ever feel the same way for you?"

"Then I will just have to wait longer for you."

The dark haired lady glanced at the grass as a peach blossom fell down from the tree. She bit her bottom lip again. Deep down, she was certain those feelings would never touch her heart for him.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Well, that escalated quickly.

In DW8, it was shown that Shu won victory at the Battle of Chencang instead historically Shu was defeated. I'm trying my best to stick to some of the historical facts for this story.

Reviews, Critiques, Constructive Criticisms are inspirational and appreciated. :) Plus, it helps me be aware of what I lack in writing


	9. The Nightmare & Heavy Rain

**Chapter 9: The Nightmare & Heavy Rain**

 **A/N:** First off, I like to thank for the reviews, favorites and follows for this story so far. They are motivational, inspirational and kind to read. :) I finally updated this story from the last chapter from almost two months ago. I've been busy and many things have happened in the last two months. I was excited to get back to writing this fanfic and wrote this chapter quickly. Please enjoy reading! :)

* * *

 **Three Months Later**

" _Jiang Wei, catch me!" Yinping hollered from sitting on top of a branch of a giant tree in a flowery meadow. From standing on the ground, Jiang Wei chuckled at how childish, adorable and innocent his Dark Haired Beauty looked. The wind blew her lengthy, dark hair gracefully as if she was a master piece of fine art. She stood up on the branch and swiftly hopped off and landed onto the arms of Jiang Wei. Once the lady was in the protective arms of his, she leaned her head against his solid chest._

 _Yinping's eyes shut as she sweetly hummed in unison with the tweeting birds. Her light brown eyes opened and pierced through Jiang Wei's own eyes. Her pink lips formed a relaxed smile at him._

" _Jiang Wei, I want us to live peacefully like this forever," the dark haired lady informed cheerfully._

 _In response, he genuinely stared down into her light brown eyes with a grin, but before he could even utter a sound Yinping's entire body disappeared from his very arms. At the same time, everything surrounding him became dull and dark as if he was trapped in an underground cave with not a crack of light to be seen. The atmosphere reeked of despair and was slowly poisoning him._

 _Panic, fear, worry and anxiety filled his mind immediately. The man turned his head to fully view his surroundings in order to track down the missing dark haired lady. A sudden gush of wind tackled him brutally to the hard, firm ground. Blood leaked from his right shoulder, from the impact of the wind, and stained his garment and the ground. As he stood up, his right shoulder ached in an unending pain as blood dripped._

 _Instead of being concern of himself, Jiang Wei repeatedly yelled her name._

" _Yinping! Yinping!"_

 _He constantly shouted his Dark Haired Beauty's name until the image of her body kneeling on the ground appeared in front of his eyes. His feet rushed to her side and pulled this woman in a tight embrace. The Dark Haired Beauty appeared to be feeble, wary and fragile. Her light brown eyes no longer consumed her cheery attitude from before. Her light brown eyes appeared to be dull, cloudy, and hollow._

" _Jiang Wei, I…want us to… live peacefully," she repeated her words faintly as if life was draining out of her. "Please…"_

 _Tears were pouring out of Jiang Wei's eyes as he continued to embrace Yinping. His right shoulder stained his rich, crimson blood unto her fair skin. She then suddenly vanished in to nothingness for the second time._

Both of Jiang Wei's eyes instantly shot opened as he sat up from his bed with sweat streaming his face. He could feel his heart pounding heavily against his chest as he felt hot all over his body. His breathing was ragged. He placed his hand to his chest while whispering the name of the girl he dearly adored.

"Yinping…"

The nightmare left an uneasy, suffocating feeling for the young strategist. He hated nightmares, not due to him being frightened, but how his nightmares appeared realistic and cruel especially when focused to those he deeply cared for. He sincerely wished he would never experience anything this close to his nightmare in his life, most precisely to _her._

He released a sigh as he turned his attention to the window of his bedroom. The moon looked optimistic contrasted to the mid heavy rain. The sound of the rain crashing onto the ground, outside of his window, were audible to his ears. Rain is meant to calm one's self instead it left him a gloomy remembrance of what happened the day before.

"Even this rain is referring me to _you_ …" Jiang Wei silently whispered.

The memory of her sadden light brown eyes pained him like a sharp, long sword stabbing straight into his chest.

 _The sky was decorated fully with endless heavy rain as Jiang Wei headed to the outdoor training area to retrieve his trident spear which he left after he was training an hour ago._

 _He didn't expect it to rain, none the less he didn't expect a severe rain to occur as he headed to the outdoor training area. His long, brown hair and hanfu were soaked as goosebumps formed on his arms as a reaction from the rain crashing onto him._

 _He walked passed the horse stalls and paused. He sensed a feeling. He spun his head to look back at the horse stalls. He sensed he should enter the horse stalls. He had a feeling it was right for him to visit the horse stalls instead of entering the outdoor training area first._

 _The young strategist's feet obeyed this feeling of his. Once he stepped foot in the horse stalls, he saw her hugging her knees closed to her chest as her lengthy, dark hair acted like a cape as it stretched down her back. Her red eyes spilled tears down her delicate, flawless face while she watched the rain from the window of the horse stalls. Her cries were blocked due to the loud rain colliding onto the solid ground._

 _Even the horses in the stalls were showing sympathy to the dark haired lady. Red Hare's eyes were the most sorrowful._

 _The heavy rain caused her to remember a heartbreaking memory. The heavy rain was responsible for causing her tears. The heavy rain was humiliating and mocking her. The heavy rain reminded her of the aftermath of Fan Castle._

 _His heart ached whenever he thought about his Dark Haired Beauty and when he was close to her. At that moment, his heart shattered at the sight of her like this. It was hurting him. It hurt Jiang Wei to see Yinping pulled down into a gloomy, saddening state. It wounded him to see tears splattered her face._

 _He approached her and let out his hand. "My lady, please don't cry."_

 _Yinping had not even noticed Jiang Wei's presence until now. Her watery eyes looked up at his while she remained quiet. Slowly, Yinping took a hold of his hand and stood up in front of him. She coughed up a pained sob before noticing her dry, small hands were still wrapped around into Jiang Wei's large, wet hands._

 _As she was about to let go of his hand, Jiang Wei tightened his grip and pulled her into a warm embrace. Their chests were against each other with only their clothes between them. Jiang Wei's soaked hanfu stick to his chest as he felt her heavy heartbeats. His heart was also pounding, but for a different reason. Embracing a woman who was not promised to you or not a family member would be highly inappropriate. Jiang Wei pushed that thought away to the back of his mind and believed a hug would comfort the sad person. He hoped this hug would comfort his Dark Haired Beauty._

" _I-I c-couldn't…" Yinping mumbled through her tears. "I could not help them… I could not help Father and Brother...I could not save them. I-I wanted to save them!"_

 _Jiang Wei could feel her hot tears spotting his chest. His embraced tightened. He knew she was referring to the Battle of Fan Castle. He knew she was still saddened and heartbroken by the memory of it when mentioned or brought up. He knew she deeply missed her father and oldest brother. He knew the rain was reminding her of her pain._

" _It was not your fault," he whispered in comfort to her._

" _A-and the rain…I hate this rain…I hate this heavy rain like that day," she murmured._

 _A moment passed, as the two were still embraced with each other. When Yinping's feelings calmed down she broke the hug and wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her hanfu._

" _Master Jiang Wei, please I didn't mean to-"_

" _Lady Yinping, it's alright. I want to comfort a friend when in need," Jiang Wei interrupted with a grin._

 _The dark haired lady slowly flashed slightly of her pearl white teeth which he dearly adored although her smile appeared empty._

 _She then pointed to the window. "It stopped."_

 _The young strategist turned to face the window. The rain did indeed stop, but his aching heart and affections didn't._

" _Master Jiang Wei, it looked like you were heading somewhere before you came here. Change into dry clothes before you proceed to what you were doing so you won't get sick," Yinping informed in concern._

 _Jiang Wei nodded and grinned at his Dark Haired Beauty._

The rain continued to pour from outside of Jiang Wei's bedroom window. His heartbeat settled down as he clenched both of his hands onto his blanket.

He hoped his nightmare wouldn't foreshadow anything in the future. He hoped he would be able to prevent it and to make the woman he adored to be happy. He hoped he will always make her smile.

In the morning, a wedding between Liu Shan and Xingcai would be held, Jiang Wei hoped this celebration would brighten Yinping's spirit. He hoped to see her pearl white teeth smile tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N:** Reviews, Critiques, Constructive Criticisms are inspirational and appreciated. :) Plus, it helps me be aware of what I lack in writing.


	10. The Taste of Wine on Your Lips

**Chapter 10 : The Taste of Wine on Your Lips**

Music, cheers, chatters, and laughter bursted throughout the palace with numerous people dressed in glamorous wardrobes. A feast consumed of a large amount of delicious foods and cups, filled with tea or wine, were spread across every dining table in the grand room as red lanterns and decorations styled the palace for this special occasion of the arranged wedding of Liu Shan and Xingcai.

Instead of devouring the mouthwatering foods and participating in the joyful atmosphere in the grand ball room, Guan Yinping was striding along the corridors of the palace in search of a certain someone who was dear to Sanniang. Her sister in-law claimed that someone was nowhere to be seen in sight and believed it was her fault for neglecting him today. Sanniang worryingly urged Yinping to help her find this beloved one of hers. As close sisters, how can Yinping refused the worrisome eyes of Sanniang's? As decided, the two ladies split up to search for this dearly beloved.

The dark haired lady's stomach growled as she roamed the hallways in search for him. She was eager to find him and to report him back to Sanniang. She deeply wished he wouldn't be placed in any danger albeit she wanted to end this search in hurry to finally fill her empty stomach with food.

In the middle of her mission, Yinping halted her pace and set her pointy finger on her right cheek. "Where can that cat be?" she asked out loud. (1) Since Sanniang and Suo haven't had any children of their own, Sanniang's orange-brownish cat was a child in her own eyes. Her sister in-law even pampered the cat like a spoiled child. Yinping continued to ponder where on Earth that cat was hiding. Surely, he wouldn't dare to travel out of the palace.

Both of her ears perked at the sounds of footsteps heading to her direction with smooth purrs following. She turned her head to unexpectantly see Sanniang's cat, Autumn, sitting at ease on the arms of Jiang Wei. Instead of her eyes immediately landing onto the cat, her eyes were overcomed with surprise and adoration of Jiang Wei's presence. She didn't want to break away a glance from him even when she was plunging into a bit of nervousness. _He's here with Autumn. Oh my goodness, he looks so handsome._

This man was responsible for causing Yinping to feel like this and initiated her chest to ache with emotions she never experienced before for anyone else. These unexplained feelings poured onto her every time she was near him or when her thoughts lingered about him. Her heart pound whenever she remembered his kind personality toward her. Her heart thundered even harder against her chest when he was performing those kind actions. Her cheeks would blush at the memory of his grin and handsome face and eventually would heat up when picturing his sculpted, tone figure. Ever since Yinping revealed her complicated aching feelings and nervousness for Jiang Wei to Sanniang, the older sister-in law would tease how cute Yinping's crush was. Sometimes Yinping pondered to herself, if what she harbored for Jiang Wei was considered to be _just_ a crush.

"My lady, it seems you are looking for this fellow," Jiang Wei spoke with a grin when he was across from her. "He was sitting under the table in the library when I was in there."

Unexpectantly to Jiang Wei, the lady, who stood in front of him, giggled at his words. Her hand covered her pink lips with her eyes shaped as crescent moons. The sound of her giggles and eye smile were so captivating to him despite the sudden reaction from her. He grinned at her for noticing she was in a high spirts compared to her gloomy behavior from a few days ago. A happy celebration with a blissful atmosphere can help contribute one's mood. Additionally, Jiang Wei was relieved to see her like this.

"Master Jiang Wei, have you been studying to avoid this happy celebration?" she asked after giggling.

"N-no, my lady," the young strategist answered with a blush of slight embarrassment, "I went to go look if I left any of my study martials from last night. I suddenly remembered before the feast started."

Jiang Wei's eyes took in the appearance of his Dark Haired Beauty. She was dressed in an extravagant hanfu with rich blossom embroidery that complimented her hour glass figure. Her lengthy, onyx hair hung loosely down with her side braids. Although she wore make up for this day, she still possessed undenying natural beauty. He secretly thought Yinping looked far prettier than the bride.

The sound of Autumn's purrs grabbed the young strategist's attention.

"It seems Autumn takes a liking to you," the dark haired lady commented. The cat looked very, _very_ comfortable in the arms of Jiang Wei. Yinping then remembered he pulled her in an embraced a few days ago. She blinked the thought away for the fear she would become even more nervous.

"Autumn, come here," she stuck her arms out when she reminded herself of the purpose of her mission, "Sanniang is worried about you."

Upon hearing Sanniang's name, the cat hurriedly jumped onto Yinping's arms. That cat thought he was done causing enough mischief, _well for now,_ and wanted to see his owner.

"Don't do that again," Yinping spoke while patting Autumn's head caringly, "You could easily cause her misery if anything happens to you."

From watching this, Jiang Wei believed not only her appearance, but her caring personality was also part of her natural beauty. Her caring personality allured him into deeper feelings for this lady. His heart pound by this charm of hers. His heart never pound like this for any woman not even for his past lovers.

"So that's where the cat is." A masculine voice boomed throughout the hall.

Both generals geared their head to the direction of the voice. General Zhao Yun marched toward the two of them.

"Uncle Yun!" The youngest Guan child shouted out loud as she waved to him while Jiang Wei bowed in respect. She was the only one who called Zhao Yun by this title. She never once called him "General" or "Master" unless mentioning him in a conversation to others. When she was a child she was told to call Liu Bei and Zhang Fei "uncle" due to them being sworn brothers with her father. She called Zhao Yun "uncle" by mistake since all three of them were often around Guan Yu and visited their household. No one corrected her on this which made her accustomed to attach the title to his name. Yinping, along with the rest of the second generation of Shu, admired and respected Zhao Yun for his skills, experience in battle, and his character. He was one of the mentors who helped train Yinping and her brothers martial arts. She considered him as part of her family. Out of her three uncles, Yinping had the closest relationship with Zhao Yun. In all honestly he was more of an uncle to her compared to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.

"Sanniang asked me to help find her cat," Zhao Yun informed with a grin. "Where did you find him?"

"Autumn was in the library. Master Jiang Wei was the one who found him," Yinping replied. "It's been awhile since I last saw you."

"Yes, it has been," Zhao Yun chuckled as he patted her head and looked into her light brown eyes. "You look beautiful just like your mother."

The dark haired lady smiled as a response. She was only four years old when her mother passed away which left her faint memories of her mother. Despite this, Yinping remembered her mother's stunning appearance and kind behavior. When growing up, people told Yinping she was the splitting image of her mother and sometimes joked the reason she didn't at all resemble her father.

"Thank you. You look handsome too." She truly thought Zhao Yun, who was 52 years old, still embraced the same good looks from his younger years. Now, if only she had the courage to compliment Jiang Wei that easily.

Suddenly the female general's stomach grumbled loudly causing the male generals to chuckle with her being a little embarrassed. Jiang Wei beamed at how adorable she could inattentively be.

"Looks like you should report back to Sanniang before you starve," Zhao Yun joked.

The dark haired lady nodded. "Okay. Good bye, Uncle."

She turned to face Jiang Wei. Her light brown eyes made eye contact with his. She didn't want to escape the sight of him. Her chest ached in the uneasiness she had for him.

"Good bye, Master Jiang Wei."

"Good bye, Lady Yinping," Jiang Wei said before she turned away. He watched her walked off with Autumn in her hands as her lengthy hair swiftly followed behind her.

Zhao Yun observed the way the young strategist looked at Yinping. He noticed Jiang Wei's eyes held the presence of affection, fondness and warmth that were all part of a deep, meaningful emotion: love. The older male general was familiar of this deep, meaningful emotion. He was aware that it could sprung to be hopelessly one sided. He was familiar of it because he had experienced it himself by keeping his love for Yinping's mother as a secret throughout all these years. Regardless of this, he wanted the best for Yinping. Zhao Yun believed even though Jiang Wei was a respectful strategist and a good person, it didn't guarantee he would be the right man for his niece.

"Jiang Wei," General Zilong's (2) serene voice captured the younger man's attention. "Do not be reckless when feelings emerge. As a man, you shouldn't only think what you crave, but by what's best for her."

A puzzled expression formed onto Jiang Wei's face. "I'm sorry, Master Zhao Yun, but I am confused by your words."

In response to that, Zhao Yun brutally glared into the younger man's eyes in deep seriousness with a deadly face as if he was about to strike his sharp-edged spear into an enemy's head.

"Do not pluck a flower. In other words, do not hurt Yinping in any way."

* * *

"Boyue, stop drinking! You know you aren't a heavy drinker," Ma Dai urgently said. This was the third cup of wine his close friend has consumed. Ma Dai knew how a terrible hangover felt. In fact, he would be the one sorry for seeing Jiang Wei drowned himself in wine. He didn't want to drag a drunk strategist all over the palace. Ma Dai thought luckily that he was able to monitor Jiang Wei's drinking quantity and that there was no one in sight to witness his friend in this state for they parted to their chambers and duties after the celebration.

Before Jiang Wei could even grasp onto his wine cup, Ma Dai immediately snatched the cup away from him and laid it on the round table between them. If his close friend consumed another cup of wine then surely he wouldn't be in a sober state. All Jiang Wei did was glimpse at the night sky from their seats in the lonely courtyard. It was a beautiful night for a joyful celebration of two people marrying. It was so beautiful, yet he was sulking at the dark sky. He was crest fallen because he knew his mind, emotions, and heart were complicating each other. With this, his thoughts couldn't stray away from how he felt for a certain dark haired lady and realized how deeply he was trapped within. He knew it was more than just a mere crush due to how weak he was at knees for her. She had intoxicated him to experience new emotions he had never had for anyone else. New emotions that were only attached to her. Those emotions stormed onto him to desire her in ways a friend shouldn't at all contemplate on. To desire her affectionately and, shamelessly Jiang Wei admitted to himself, physically.

" _Do not pluck a flower. In other words, do not hurt Yinping in any way."_ Zhao Yun's words rung in his head. Jiang Wei knew, by those words, Zhao Yun recognized the younger man's adoration for Yinping. Likewise Jiang Wei also identified the older general's warning and threat in those words. Alongside with that, his nightmare, from a few days ago, flew to this thoughts. The memory of losing her caused him to feel uneasy and anxious as his heart boomed against his chest. _Why am I feeling like this?_

Upon thinking about this, the young strategist clearly felt his heart pound again when he placed his hand on his chest. _What is this?_

One thing he knew was that Yinping was the sole source and only woman to ever create a war within himself. And he didn't mind those restless, complex emotions drowned him because it was her, his Dark Haired Beauty. He noticed he was happy when she was simply smiling or laughing. Likewise he became upset and was willing to comfort her when discovering a frown, and even an empty smile on her face. Was this all considered to be more meaningful than _just_ a crush?

Jiang Wei scratched the right side of his head until his eyes widen. _Could this mean that I'm-_

"Falling in love with _her_. With Yinping," the gentleman softly blurted out by finishing his thoughts. He closed both of his eyes to sink in this realization. "I am falling in love with Yinping," he repeated.

"Well," Jiang Wei's eyes opened to the sound of Ma Dai's voice, "It's about time you notice."

* * *

"Gosh, Yin, I always wished my hair was as beautiful as yours," Sanniang commented as she patted Autumn, who was sitting comfortably on her lap. The two sister in-laws were currently sitting on Sanniang's bed in her room. Both ladies just retired from their glamour dresses to comfortable sleeping gowns. Yinping was brushing her lengthy, onyx hair.

"And your dress complimented your body! Xingcai's dress was nice, too, but she could have looked more stunning if she smiled a little more…"

Sanniang's words were muted in Yinping's ears. All Yinping could think about was a certain young strategist and how easily he made her flustered. He was always handsome, but today he looked partially handsome to her. Her thoughts traveled to her memory when he pulled her close, chest to chest against his wet clothes, in the horse's stalls. Her cheeks blushed at this memory.

"YIN?" Sanniang raised her voice as she waved her hands in front of Yinping. In reaction to this, Autumn alertly hopped off his owner's lap and landed on the floor.

"Are you listening? And why are your cheeks suddenly rosy?" The older sister questioned.

Yinping instantly dropped her hair brush onto the bed and placed her hands on her cheeks. "M-my cheeks are r-rosy?"

An idea popped in Sanniang's head. She then smirked at her younger sister. "Were you thinking of something _naughty_?"

"N-no…" Yinping replied as her head hung low to avoid exposing more of her rosy cheek.

"Were you thinking of something _naughty_ to a particular _gentleman_ ," Sanniang teased.

The younger sister continued to stare at the bed in silence.

"Yin, you and Jiang Wei will _make_ beautiful babies… Oh gosh, now your cheeks are red as Red Hare."

"SANNIANG!"

The older sister chuckled at this outburst. Sometimes Yinping wondered if Sanniang did receive pleasure from teasing her.

"But, seriously, I was talking about the dresses in the wedding and here you are daydreaming about pretty boy," Sanniang nagged.

She then continued to tease her. "And I saw him look at you today. I wouldn't be surprise if he wouldn't mind _making_ babies with you. I mean look at your hips! You and him can definitely _make_ _lots_ of babies."

"STOP!" The dark haired lady exclaimed embarrassedly. _Babies with him means we would have to do IT._ She could feel the intense warmth rising in her very body. _Wait, why am I thinking this?!_ She face palmed her flustered face.

Sanniang thought Yinping looked so cute when embarrassed.

"I am telling the truth!"

The room was dead quiet. She then placed her hand onto the younger sister's right shoulder.

"Look, I was just messing with you. I do think you two are cute together," Sanniang reasoned, "remember there are other girls who have their eyes set on him. I'm positive he likes you, maybe he isn't confident enough to tell you."

"What about Bao?" Yinping asked innocently, "he said he will wait for me to accept him, but I don't feel the same way." Ever since Bao confessed his feelings for Yinping, she sometimes felt a little uncomfortable around him by knowing she didn't at all possess the same for him. She tried her best to bury her uneasiness when around him. He did become a little nicer to her, and she didn't want to hurt him. She still saw Bao as Xing's sworn brother and her childhood friend. Yinping didn't want to lose that relationship with him.

The older sister looked firmly into the light brown eyes of the younger sister. "Love should not feel pressured. That is not love. Love comes and grows from the heart itself. Bao needs to know that."

With hearing that, Yinping merely nodded.

Sanniang smiled. "That is how I know I was, and still am, in love with your brother even though he was once chasing girls and vice versa. You will experience what love is, too." Giggles were released from her lips. "Autumn wasn't fond of Suo at first. Am I right?" She looked down from her bed to see her cat.

The cat looked back at her, and Sanniang SWORE he smirked mischievously before he ran out of the room through the slightly opened door. The cat was heading to the room, he previously visited this morning, to revisit a _certain_ someone. Autumn was excited to see how his plan would turn out especially for Yinping to find him again.

"That cat loves playing tricks," Sanniang said annoyingly as she grabbed Yinping's arm to head out of the room.

"Hhmm, I wonder where he gets that from?" Yinping said sarcastically.

* * *

Jiang Wei released a sigh as he stared at book shelves in the silent library. He was alone in the enormous library to reflect on his thoughts and feelings. He believed the library was a peaceful enough place to do this, since everyone were in bed or back to their usual duties. Ma Dai insisted to converse about Jiang Wei's realization of his love for his Dark Haired Beauty, but Jiang Wei decided that he needed time alone to think things through.

The mere thought of _her_ made his heart bang against his chest. It was more than just a crush and attraction. He was falling in love with her even when he didn't notice it and when he couldn't pin point those storming, new emotions. He was falling in love with her, and that made him at ease at this realization, albeit he pondered if she would ever feel the same way. The thought of that caused nervousness to downfall onto him.

His heart continued on banging as he laid his hand on his chest. He had lovers before although falling in love with Yinping was more meaningful. He didn't know how to explain it however he knew she was sincerely dear and precious to him.

The sudden sound of sharp scratches on the library door distracted the strategist's attention of his thoughts. He became vigilant as he cautiously headed toward the door. _What is this?_ He decided to open the door in order to find out what was causing the noise. Once he opened the door, an orange-brownish creature dashed into the library. It was none other than Autumn, Sanniang's cat.

Jiang Wei looked at the cat curiously. "What brings you here, Autumn?"

Autumn glanced back at the strategist and walked toward the bookshelves with his head held high. Jiang Wei thought for a cat, Autumn was kind of sassy. He then followed the cat until footsteps were heard from behind him. He turned around. His heart boomed against his chest upon seeing the woman he was in love with.

"Um, Master Jiang Wei," Yinping spoke, "Sanniang and I are looking for Autumn. I saw him coming in here."

Meows responded to her statement from where the bookshelves were.

"Come on, Autumn, stop playing tricks on Sanniang. Let's go back," the dark haired lady said.

"It seems like this cat likes to play hide and seek," Jiang Wei added with a chuckle, to hide his nervousness, as he headed to the book shelves. Yinping giggled at his comment. Her giggles were angelic and captivating to his ears.

When the generals reached the bookshelves, Autumn _purposely_ bumped harshly into Yinping which caused her to fall into Jiang Wei's arms. His back was now leaning against the bookshelves with them both blushing by the fact of the very, _very_ intimate contact between them. Jiang Wei's face was heating up by feeling Yinping's breasts right against his chest. From seeing their physical contact and reaction, Autumn jaunty walked away from the two by knowing he succeeded the purpose of his plan and what would proceed.

Yinping lifted her head up causing both pair of eyes to lock gazes with each other. Mix emotions emerge as everything felt hot around her with her heart beating rapidly. The physical contact made her uneasy although she actually enjoyed being _this_ close to _his_ body. She enjoyed it, the same she was too shy to make any action in hoping he wouldn't pull away from her. Jiang Wei stared deeply into those light brown eyes he adored and then to her full, pink lips. His body flared up at the sight of her lips. Her lips were so alluring, so tempting to him.

He inched his face closer to hers and devoured her lips. The dark haired lady was surprise at this gesture while at the same time her lips danced along to the movements of his own lips. His lips pressed against her lips were rough, aggressive, yet soft and delicate. His lips continued to hungrily carved onto hers as he pushed her waist against him even closer.

Yinping closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She never knew what kissing felt like before and was, at times, curious. She didn't know how someone's lips could make you feel so _good_. She also didn't know she would _like_ it. One of Jiang Wei's hand held firmly onto her waist as the other hand slid up and down her back making her pressed her body farther onto him. She could feel his perfect sculpted abdominal through his hanfu as well as he felt more of her soft breasts pressed on his chest. They both felt sensational impulses throughout their bodies.

His hands halted their actions and tilted his face to mold more of his lips onto hers. He kissed her breathlessly and eagerly slid his tongue inside her sweet, pink lips. He has kissed several women before in the past; kissing his Dark Haired Beauty was more powerful and pleasurable. He hoped she was pleasured by the kiss also. Their tongues played with each other, exploring the unknown. The touch of his tongue inside her mouth made Yinping crave him further. Her surprising, sweet, little moans excited Jiang Wei, but alerted him that he already cross the border line and, he cannot continue this pleasant activity any farther.

He slowly broke away the kiss which made Yinping opened her eyes. Heavy breathing from the two were present. He let go of her and stared deeply into her light brown eyes. Jiang Wei then noticed the right shoulder of her night gown slid off and her bare shoulder was exposed with her face a rosy color. She inattentively licked her lips. She tasted a little bit of grape wine. She finally had her first kiss and the lick of wine. Deep down, she knew the man in front of her was sober and not drunk. She knew whole heartedly he would not take advantage of her in a drunken state.

Jiang Wei's body once again flared up by how innocent she looked when licking her lips and her current appearance.

"M-my lady," he uttered, "I'm sorry for my actions... I got carried away… I am deeply sorry."

In response, the dark haired lady stared at him and _boldly_ tugged the collar of his hanfu. His head was now elevated to hers, rather their lips were centimeters apart. Yinping didn't know why she acted confidently and boldly at this moment.

"Like you said before that night in your tent, 'ever since we met we've been exchanging thank yous and apologies between each other.' I am not accepting your apology," she said with a smile. She kissed the corner of his mouth and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She kissed him full on the lips. He embraced her and kissed her in return.

"Yinping, I-"

Heavy footsteps followed by two familiar voices, coming from the front door of the library, interrupted Jiang Wei.

"So now Autumn and Yinping are both missing. Sanniang should have called us first to look for that sly cat of hers in this late night. What if they are out of the palace and run into some drunks!"

"Xing, calm down. I'm anxious about Yinping too, but she's a tough girl. She's a general and she can knock out large men even with how tiny she is."

"Bao, you know as a brother, I'm just worried."

There was a pause for a few seconds.

"Xing, there's someone here." Bao said firmly.

The sound of Bao's footsteps were getting closer toward the bookshelves.

* * *

 **A/N:**

1) Sanniang's cat first appeared in Chapter 3: Rumors are Rumors

2) Zilong is Zhao Yun's style name in history

It takes them 10 chapters to _finally do it_! I didn't notice until I was writing this chapter. :P So what do you think?

It's been along time since I updated. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and Happy Late New Year 2016!

Thank you to ChenChong91 for giving me the tip on expressions and descriptions. And to SilentNinja for helping me figure what age to write for Zhao Yun even though we talked about it long ago.

 **SapphireMarbles 1/12/2016**


	11. A Bird's Song with Ugly Tears

**Chapter 11: A Bird's Song with Ugly Tears**

"Xing, there's someone here," Bao said firmly.

The sound of Bao's footsteps were getting closer toward the bookshelves. In reaction to this, both Jiang Wei and Yinping stared at each other and saw the surprised, panic, worry and even fear filtered in their eyes as they held their breathes. The dark haired lady's heart slammed dangerously in her chest as it drowned in anxiety and nervousness. She bit her bottom lip as she clung onto Jiang Wei even tighter. If Bao and Xing caught them in an embraced, she knew her older brother would spit out brutal, vicious remarks. She knew her brother would whole heartedly target the blame on Jiang Wei. And how would Bao react?

Witnessing and feeling how her delicate body trembled against his own while his chest endured a rapid pound, Jiang Wei stroke her long, onyx hair to calm her. Each sound of Bao's footsteps deepen the nervousness and knowing fear upon the two. Bao's shadow became more visible to the side of the bookshelves which initiated Jiang Wei and Yinping to tighten their grip.

Bao was finally one step away. One step away to discover who was behind the bookshelves. One step away to see with his own eyes the girl, who he been in loved with, was wrapped around in the arms of another man. _Just one step away._

As if this whole situation would just disappear, Yinping squeezed her eyes shut as she further bit onto her lips until a familiar sound snapped her eyes open.

The sound continued to echo across the library.

"Meow. Meow. Meow."

"Autumn?" Bao asked while his footsteps became faint in sound as well as his shadow faded from the Jiang Wei's and Yinping's view. The dark haired lady released a small breath. _Thank you, Autumn._ Although her brother's voice caused her to be alert of what would come next.

"So Autumn is here, but where is Yinping?" Xing worryingly asked.

In response, the sounds of Bao's footsteps once again headed toward the bookshelves. Those unpleasant feelings poured onto Jiang Wei and Yinping for the second time. In that instant, Yinping wanted to do something, no, she needed to do something in order to save them, to save Jiang Wei in this situation. She then squeezed his body in a tight hug before she eruptedly broke away their embrace and warmth. Before Jiang Wei could grab her wrist, Yinping sharply turned her back away from him.

Jiang Wei watched her lengthy, dark hair fluttered as she quickly ran out of the bookshelves area.

"I'm here," the dark haired lady announced as she stepped out of Jiang Wei's view.

Yinping saw the relief in Xing's eyes upon seeing her, but were immediately fused into worry, distress and a bit of anguish.

"Yinping, you had me worried," Xing sternly scolded.

"She had us all worried," Bao added in a concern, caring tone. His eyes focused onto her, lingered on her body for a second, and instantly averted his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry," the dark haired lady apologized sincerely.

"And," Xing spoke as he walked toward to his little sister's right side and _purposely_ blocked her from Bao's sight. To Yinping's surprise, he pulled the right shoulder of her night gown into its proper place and position. (1) He whispered to her ear. "Please be careful."

Yinping instantly blushed a light rosy color in embarrassment as she touched her shoulder and then her lips. _That's from earlier...from that kiss._

Xing was quick to interrogate her on the reason she was behind the bookshelves and didn't first respond when he and Bao entered the library. The youngest Guan sibling improv a false explaination that she was so focused on finding her missing ring and believed it fell off her finger when she was finding Autumn in the room. Yinping truly felt guilty of lying albeit she needed to keep Jiang Wei safe from this situation.

"But now I think it's probably somewhere in my room," Yinping continued.

"Be alert next time," Xing lectured. "It's getting late. We should return Autumn to Sanniang and go to bed."

With Xing already out of the library and Autumn in Yinping's arms, Bao headed to her side.

"If you still can't find your ring then I can help you find it and if I can't, I'll buy you a new ring," Bao whispered to her.

The dark haired lady caught the glimpse of true kindness in his eyes matching to his sweet words. A pang of guilt washed over her for not only lying to Bao, but of how he sincerely cared for her in ways Yinping knew surely she would not reciprocate because she was falling into those same feelings for a certain man. She honestly didn't want to hurt Bao. Her chest ached.

"Thank you," she managed to say back. Bao smiled at her before he walked out of the room. She felt the growing guilt rushing throughout her body.

"Meow."

Yinping looked down onto Autumn and realized the cat was staring at the bookshelves from across the room. Jiang Wei was silent through the whole situation. The dark haired lady touched her lips remembering how his own lips felt against hers along with those deep, meaningful feelings she had for him. She wished to run back to the bookshelves and see his face. She craved for his warmth and touch. She recognized if she did run to him in this second, it would definitely arouse suspicion. And that suspicion would lead to decisive blame onto him.

At that moment, she admitted she wanted him. She wanted to be with him. Deep down, she hoped he wanted her, actually she _wanted_ _him_ to want her. Yinping wanted Jiang Wei to want her in ways she never felt for any man before. She pondered, if their kiss meant the same for her as it did to him.

The dark haired lady gently traced her lips with her delicate, thin fingers. _I think this is what you feel when you fall in love._

She then gazed into the direction of the bookshelves.

"Good night," her soft voice echoed the room.

She headed toward the library's front door. Jiang Wei watched as his Dark Haired Beauty exited out of the room. He fought his erg to rush up to her and lovingly nestle her in a warm hug with his own two arms.

* * *

The sun's brightness shined through the windows of Yinping's bedroom as birds chirped happily to their song. It was a day beautiful enough to enjoy what Mother Nature had to offer. The day was beautiful, yet it held a complicated aura surrounding a certain dark haired lady.

Despite the cheerful pink blossoms accessorized on her braids, Yinping's expression appeared to be blank. Blank was the word she described herself as she examined her face in the mirror as she brushed her lengthy, dark hair while sitting on the dresser's chair. Her light brown eyes traveled from her hair to her lips which halted her actions.

 _One week._ It has been one week since the incident in the library. One week since she was embraced by _him. One week since_ \- the dark haired lady gently grazed her delicate fingers on her lips- _Jiang Wei's_ _and her lips melted into one_. One week passed since Jiang Wei conversed with her. One week left Yinping feeling confused, a bit sadden and frustrated. And in a sense, she missed him.

 _Maybe he's just too busy?_ She thought during the past week. At times, she believed Jiang Wei was avoiding her due to him never approaching her whenever she passed by him in the corridors of the palace and when she tried her best to greet him.

She bit her lips as she looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes showed her confusion, sadness and frustration. W _hy? Why is he doing this?_

"D-did that kiss meant something to him?" The dark haired lady finally asked herself in a quiet, weeping tone. _Was he messing around with me? No, that's not like him, but…_

Her head felt hot, her chest ached as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut with her teeth biting deeper into her lips. _I can't believe I am feeling like this for a man. I would never thought I would be this._

"But I don't want to stop adoring you." Yinping whispered softly. It wasn't a plea or an expression of grief. It was a fact, a promise she proposed upon herself.

Her eyes opened to witness her reflection in the mirror. Little tears stained her angelic face. She wiped away her ugly tears as the birds continued singing their song.

* * *

"Thank you, Master Jiang Wei, for helping me on my homework," 12 year old Zhuge Zhan, the son of Zhuge Liang, thanked as he gathered his scrolls and parchments from the round, wooded table in the study room.

"You're welcome, Zhan. I don't mind at all," Jiang Wei replied with a grin.

Upon packing their belongings, silence occupied the study room until Zhan cleared his throat followed by a question leaving Jiang Wei taken by surprise.

"What, Zhan?"

"I said," Zhan repeated with his eye brows narrowed as his arms crossed, "did something happen between you and Lady Yinping?"

"Why would you-"

"Master Jiang Wei, it has been several months since I found out about your secret and the deal we made," Zhan then huffed in agitation. "I told you I will reveal your secret if you never have the confidence for her, but I'm pretty sure you hinted your interest to her throughout this whole time."

The young strategist, who was astonished and slightly annoyed by the boy's abrupt remarks, laid his scrolls on the table and turned his full body and attention to Zhan.

"There's no need for your concern. Just focus on your studies," Jiang Wei implied calmly. Regardless of his slight annoyance, Jiang Wei didn't hold the capability to bark at children.

Before Jiang Wei was able to rotate his body to finish gathering his belongings, Zhan slammed his fist on the table.

"I'm your friend, Master Jiang Wei, of course I'm concerned!" The boy exclaimed. "You're a smart man, but if you don't confess to her then another man will go after her no matter the countless hints you throw. I don't know what is behind your reason, but I have noticed you are keeping distance from her. It's damaging to Lady Yinping."

Those words stung painfully, sharply onto Jiang Wei. Those words were slowly slaughtering him. They were all too true. The last sentence triggered his heart to throb in shatters.

 _"_ _It's damaging to Lady Yinping."_

"I'm sorry. I said too much," Zhan apologized when seconds passed.

"No," Jiang Wei finally spoke and looked straight into Zhan's eyes, "What you said was the truth."

The man then patted the boy's shoulder.

"You made me realized how wrong I was, Zhan."

In that moment, the sound of tiny footsteps were clearly heard from outside of the study room. Once the sounds of the footsteps halted, the door of the study room swung opened causing Jiang Wei's chest to bang when seeing that person.

Yinping was present at the door with a few scrolls in her hands. She observed the room. Her eyes immediately settled on a tall, masculine figure. Her heart stopped as she felt a chill spread her body. _He_ was here. She didn't expect to see him here; surely, maybe, they will be able to have a real conversation. She'll be able to be with him even if it's just for a short time, even if sadness and frustration creeped upon herself. Along as she was with him, she would be happy. After all, she wanted to be with him.

The room and everything else became faint, blurry, and distant when Jiang Wei's eyes only focused on his Dark Haired Beauty. Nothing else, but only she was in his view. She was stunning as always with her black lengthy hair falling to her sides. She was beautiful, but she looked…damage. _"_ _It's damaging to Lady Yinping."_ Those _words_ rung in Jiang Wei's head for the second time. His heart throbbed in shatters. _I will make you smile, Yinping. I will explain and confess to you. You will be mine and I will be yours._

"Lady Yinping," Zhan said which interrupted both the lovers' thoughts.

"I'm here to drop off some scrolls my Brother Xing asked me to do," the dark haired lady responded. "Oh, I must have interrupted your studies."

An idea quickly emerged in Zhan's head.

"Actually, I just finished studying." He grabbed his scrolls from the table and dashed right next to Yinping who was still at the front door.

"I think you and Master Jiang Wei have some catching up to do," the boy bluntly whispered to her.

"W-what?" Yinping blinked at the sudden comment. _Am I hearing him right?_

In reply, what all Zhan did was wave bye as he exited the study room and made sure he shut the door, leaving those two alone with each other.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Hey I'm back. I'm sorry it took long lovely readers and I enjoyed writing this story again. :)

1) Refers to what happened in the previous chapter ;)

I intended to have Zhuge Zhan (from Chapter Five) in the story and decided to have his comeback in this chapter. I'm growing quite fond of him with his mischievious character and smart antics. He will also appear in later chapters.

As always, thanks for reading! :D (Gosh, its already 1:08 AM)


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